Katniss and Cato
by Hungergames1234
Summary: What if Katniss and Cato won the 74th Hunger Games and together they had to fix their broken lives, helping each other every step of the way.
1. Chapter 1

**Katniss' POV:**

"Katniss!"

I whip around to see Peeta stuck in Cato's arms. His face is pale and by the way he is breathing, I can tell that Cato is choking him to death. I raise my bow with an arrow already in it and aim it at Cato's head.

"If you kill me, then both me and lover boy will fall backwards into the mutts," Cato says in his gruff voice.

I am stuck. I know I have to kill Cato, but I also know that he is right. If I want to kill Cato, I have to kill Peeta too. Peeta's face is growing paler and his breathing is becoming heavier and heavier. My hands are starting to shake from my nervousness, so I grip my bow harder.

Cato notices and starts laughing, "I guess you won't be able to save him this time, girl on fire. Clove was right, you really are pathetic."

I hold on to my bow harder and keep it trained on Cato's head. I can't let Peeta die. If I do I will never be able to live with myself, and I won't be able to live without him. He helps me, he calms my rage, he makes me truly happy.

The sound of Cato's voice breaks my thoughts. "Well, if you're not going to shoot, then I'll just kill him myself." Then, what he does next I'll never be able to forget. Cato throws Peeta off of the cornucopia and he lands with a thud near the opening of it. The wolf mutts lunge from where they are standing and land on top of Peeta. They rip, tear, and claw at Peeta's flesh.

My eyes go wide. "PEETA!" I drop my bow and arrow and run to the edge of the cornucopia and look down. "Peeta...I'm so, so sorry."

"Katniss," Peeta says in a barely audible voice, "Katniss, I love you."

"I love you too Peeta, I love you too." I bring my pointer and index fingers to my mouth, kiss them, and then point them at Peeta. Our signal meaning I love you, goodbye, and good luck. I sit at the edge of the cornucopia watching Peeta get mauled for what seems like ten years. Then I finally get up and grab my bow and arrow. I can't let him did slowly and painfully. I know what I have to do. "Peeta," I say in a small whisper, "stay with me." Then I pull back the string of my bow and let the arrow fly directly at his head. But, right before it reaches him I hear him say, "always."

It's silent, then I hear the boom of the cannon signaling Peeta's death.

I will not cry. I still have Cato to kill and then I can get out of this hell, but until then I can't show any weakness. People can't think that I'm weak.

I shakily get up and turn to face my enemy. He is just standing there looking like he's waiting for something to happen.

I can feel the anger rising inside of me and yet again train my last arrow at him, but this time at his heart. All I have to do is let it go and then I will be home free.

I expect Cato to come at me with his sword, but he just stands there and moves his eyes from me to my weapon over and over. Then he does something that I never thought would happen. Cato Stone takes off his body armor. He starts to walk over to me and I back up. By the time that I'm at the edge of the cornucopia, my arrow is touching the skin over his heart.

"What are you doing?" I screech. I can feel my hands beginning to shake again and I know that this time I won't be able to hide it. My head is pounding and I have no idea if Cato is in front of me to kill me or to be killed. I wait, but I don't receive an answer. He just stands there looking at me directly in the eyes. I can feel my confusion turn into anger. "I thought you wanted me dead! Well here's your chance! Ever since the battle started you have had it out for me. Now you can finally kill me!" My whole body is violently shaking and my surroundings are twirling around me. I can feel the tears swelling in my eyes, but I know that I can't allow them to fall. As broken as I feel, I know that I can't let it show. I can't be weak.

Again, he doesn't respond. He continues to look into my grey seam eyes, so I look into his back. His eyes are blue, but not like how Peeta's were. Peeta's were warm and comforting, Cato's are cold and icy. I start shivering from his piercing stare and I know that I won't be able to contain myself anymore. A tear slips down the side of my face and falls onto the glistening cornucopia.

Just as I'm about to collapse, I hear trumpets. Then, Claudius Templesmith's voice booms around us, "Ladies and gentleman, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Cato Stone and Katniss Everdeen. I give you the tributes from Districts Two and Twelve!"

_Victors? _How can they allow two victors? That has never happened before. And why couldn't I have just shot my arrow at Cato? Then I would be the victor. Then, they play the cheers from the Capitol. Cato unlocks his eyes from mine and starts beating his chest with his fists. I just stand there and watch a hovercraft appear out of the sky. At first I think it it coming for us, until it drops a claw down into the cornucopia. It takes the claw eleven trips before all of Peeta's body is on the hovercraft. Every time I sob louder and louder. When the hovercraft to bring me and Cato out of the arena finally comes to pick us up, I am flooded with relief. I grab on to the ladder and it rises up. When it unfreezes me I collapse to the ground, without even looking around me.


	2. Chapter 2

**Katniss' POV:**

It takes me three times to finally wake up without falling asleep again. I open my eyes and see that I'm not in the arena anymore. I sit up and look around me confused at the thought of being somewhere else. Then, I remember. Peeta died and Cato and I were made victors. But, couldn't that all be a dream? I smile at the thought of Peeta being alive in a different room similar to mine. I pull off my covers and quietly sneak to the door of my hospital room.

I have to see if this is real or not. I have to go find Peeta. I look both ways down the hall and see a door hardly open. I walk with the quietness of a hunter down to the door and think about how Peeta will be lying behind the door. We will probably kiss and smile and hug. I giggle at the thought of it. When I reach the door I can barely make out a bed with a blonde haired boy lying in it. I smile and run into the room.

"Peeta!" I yell gleefully. Then I stop right before the foot of the bed. This isn't Peeta. I am about to leave, thinking that I have the wrong room, but stop before I get to the door. I turn around and horror fills me. I recognize those cold, icy eyes. They belong to none other than Cato Stone.

I collapse on to the ground sobbing out of embarrassment and the thought of living without Peeta. I pull my knees up to my chest and rock back and forth. After awhile, Haymitch comes in and crouches down next to me.

"Shhh, it's okay sweetheart. It's okay. Let's go back to your room and get you some lamb stew. How would you like that?" Haymitch says in a soothing voice.

I don't feel like talking to anyone, so I stand up in response.

"Good, now come with me down the hall." He takes my arm gently and leads me out of the room. I start to follow, but quickly yank my arm away and run back to Cato's room.

"Get out!" I order the two people standing in the corner, that I can only guess to be his mentors. Surprisingly, they obey, but I know that they'll be standing outside of the room listening to what I say. Once they close the door behind them I turn towards a surprised Cato. "Listen up! I will never forgive you Cato Stone!"

"Come here," he says in reply. I walk over to the side of his bed, making sure that I don't get too close. He motions with his hand to come closer, so I lean down and he puts his mouth up to my ear. Then, he whispers with passion, "I will kill you, just like how I wanted little lover boy to die. Slow and painful."

I jerk back, scared at first but then angry at him for even mentioning Peeta. I jump onto Cato's bed and pin him down, taking him off guard. I start clawing at his face and punching him, while doing this I yell and scream obscenities at him. He doesn't fight back, but is yelling "What the hell?" "Get off me!" and other crazy things at me. I don't stop until our mentors run in and Haymitch pulls me off.

He carries me out of the room and back to mine, I kick and scream not caring if I hit Haymitch. He drops me on my bed and gives me a shot of morphing that I try to fight off. After a few minutes I give up and let the power of it drag me into sleep. My sleep is filled with Peeta. Not good visions of him, but him dying over and over again. Each time a different way and each time I am the one killing him.

I wake up screaming for Peeta to watch out. I open my eyes and see Haymitch sitting in a chair next to my bed.

"Looks like someone finally decided to wake up," he growls.

I scowl at him and pull the covers up to my chin. I still have shivers from Cato's eyes.

Haymitch rolls his eyes at me and starts to get up. "Well, since you're awake, I guess you can go back to your room you had while training. Just find the elevator and go to the twelfth floor as usual." With that he opens the door and leaves. Was it me or had he looked like he had been crying?

I follow what Haymitch said and go to the elevator. When I pass all of the floors that the tributes stayed on, their faces flash through my mind. Glimmer, Clove, Rue, Thresh... The elevator stops at the twelfth floor and I hop off. I don't bother looking to see if Effie or Cinna are here, and go directly to my old room. On my bed I find a loaf of bread with a note lying next to it. The note is written in a shaky handwriting that I don't recognize.

It says:

Dear Katniss,

Peeta came up to me before the games and told me to give this to you when you win. Not _if_ you win, _when_ you win. I don't understand why he chose to give you bread, but I'm just following what he told me to do, so here you go. You better be thankful.

- Haymitch

I stare at the bread, and then finally decide that I'll order hot chocolate to dip it in. When it arrives, I cry and dip my bread in it. The whole time Peeta had wanted me to win. He never doubted me. When I get to the center of the bread, I notice a small velvet box. I open it and find a necklace in the shape of a heart with a 'P' engraved on it. I rub my hand over it, and one of my fingers presses a button that makes the necklace open up. Oh no! I broke it! But then I notice a small picture of a person inside. It's Peeta. Did he know that I would love him or did he get this to tell me that his love was real? I latch the necklace around my neck and can't stop smiling and touching it. This is just what I need to help me get through all of this.

I lie down and eventually fall into a deep sleep without any nightmares.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry that this chapter is so short, I am just playing around with the POVs. Next chapter, will be back in Katniss' POV, but I think the one after that will be in Haymitch's. Hope you like it!**

**Gale's POV:**

She had won. She had kept her promise to Prim. Katniss Everdeen was going to come home.

Tonight was the recap and the crowning of the victors. It was mandatory to watch it, so all of District Twelve was gathered in the town square. I was standing between my mother and Mrs. Everdeen who both had their children on their other side. Everybody was chatting happily until the sound of our national anthem blared and the seal of Panem was on the big screen in front of the Justice Building. Everyone fell silent. Then, Caesar Flickerman's smiling face came on the screen.

"Hello ladies and gentleman of Panem! We have just ended another exciting Hunger Games and tonight we will watch the recap and see our **two**, yes **two**, victors be crowned by President Snow," Caesar Flicerman says. "First we will start off by seeing our victors for the first time since the games. We will begin with District Two and their escort Molly Harpin! And now the stylist, Riley Septimus and his prep team: Bellus, Crinitus, and Xiphias! Next his mentors, Brutus and Enobaria! And finally the person we have all been waiting for...Cato Stone!"

The crowd around me bursts into boos, some people even through stones at the screen. I join in booing Cato for stealing Katniss' title as victor. I don't get why she didn't just kill him right then and there. I know I would've. Suddenly the crowd goes silent once again as Caesar Flickerman's starts announcing the District Twelve side.

"Now it's District Twelve's turn. Introducing the escort Effie Trinket, the stylist Cinna and his prep team: Octavia, Venia, and Flavius, the mentor Haymitch Abernathy, and finally...Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire!" Caesar says with much applause and even stomping after each name.

Katniss walks out onto the stage and I can tell immediately that something is wrong. She has a far away look in her eyes and keeps playing with something around her neck. As worried as I am for her, I have to admit that she looks stunning. Cinna deserves a much louder applause than he received.

She walks over to Caesar and Cato and they each shake hands. When she shakes Cato's hand she is trembling and her left hand continues to play with whatever is around her neck. That's when I notice the scratches and bruises on Cato's face. He certainly didn't get those from the games because the Capitol would have erased the scars from his body. These look much more recent. Caesar seems to notices also and gives him a questioning look. Cato just shakes his head in return.

President Snow walks out onto the stage holding a gold crown. At first I'm confused because he can only put that on one of the victors, until he snaps the crown in half and places one half on each of their heads. When he puts the half on Cato's head, Cato makes a disgusted face. When he puts the other half on Katniss' head, she trembles even harder and shrinks away after he turns away from her. What's wrong with her? What happened to the strong, confident Katniss that I love and know?

They all finally take a seat and Caesar motions for somebody to start the recap on a screen for Katniss and Cato to watch. Once it starts, it's obvious that they focus more on Katniss and her love story with Mellark. It disgusts me to have to rewatch all of their kissing and cave scenes.

Finally we are at the part where Katniss kills Mellark. During this, she stiffens and gets a glassy look in her eyes. They end it by showing Katniss crying and screaming for Mellark as the claw brings up the pieces of his body into the hovercraft. Then, it flashes off.

Everyone in the square is speechless. They never showed this part on television. Then Mrs. Everdeen starts crying and I know that I have to comfort her. When she stops crying I turn my focus back onto the screen. Caesar has started wrapping up and him and Cato stand up to shake hands. Caesar looks expectantly at Katniss, waiting for her to stand up also. But she just sits there staring blankly at the screen, no expression on her face, her right hand gripping what I can now see looks like a necklace. Next to me I can here Mrs. Everdeen whispering, "No Katniss, don't do what I did, come on, stand up." But she doesn't she just sits there staring off into the distance and not moving.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everybody! Okay so this chapter is basically a filler, the next chapter will be told in Haymitch's POV. Soon there will be one that is Cato's POV and you will be able to see what he thinks about all of this. It might take a while so hang in there. The names of Haymitch's family and girlfriend and idea that she is pregnant belongs to the story _Haymitch's Love: The Untold Story_. It is written by KattyHunger and it is incredibly good. So read it! And ya that's all I have to say, so I hope you like the chapter!**

**Katniss' POV:**

Move! Why can't I move? I just can't stop staring at the screen. How could they have showed Peeta being taken away? How could they have made me relive that? I make a fist with my left hand and I can feel my nails digging in to my skin. It feels good. Like the pain from it will get rid of the pain in my heart.

I can hear Haymitch yelling at the camera people. "Are those cameras still on? Turn the damn things off! I don't want the whole damn nation seeing this." I wonder just how much he's had to drink today. One of the camera people says yes, but I know that they won't stop filming this. Why would they miss the chance to show a crazy girl as a reminder to the Districts that the Capital is in control of us?

Haymitch comes over and crouches in front of me. I don't look at him and I pretend that he's not there. "Come on sweetheart. Let's get you off the stage," he says as calmly as he can. I don't move. He grabs my left hand and tries to pull me up out of the chair. "Come on, at least stand up," this time his voice has a pleading tone in it. But I don't move, I can't. I'm like how my mother was after my father died, too depressed to even move. Haymitch takes his hand away and notices the blood starting to come out of where my nails are digging into my skin. "Hey, at least unclench your hand. I can't let you get blood on your beautiful dress." I continue to clench my fist, this time harder than before. Haymitch gets up and starts talking to himself, "okay, so she's not moving. What can I do to make her move?"

He seems to get an idea because his eyes light up and he crouches down in front of me again. I'm curious to hear what he says, so I listen to him when he talks. "Listen Katniss, I know what you're going through." Sure he does, I clench my fist harder. "But, you just have to move on. Peeta would want you to be happy, you know that." He sees that this is obviously not working so he says in a very small voice, which surprises me, "I had a girlfriend when I went off to the Hunger Games. Her name was Nemit..." He gets a far away look in his eyes. I feel bad for him so, for his sake, I decide to at least look at him. Haymitch doesn't notice, he continues to look at some point behind me. "She was beautiful...When I returned, we found out that she was pregnant. I was the father. When she was a month pregnant, peacekeepers showed up at our door." I can barely make out what Haymitch is saying his voice has gotten so quiet. "They took her away and I never saw her again...A few days after that, the peacekeepers showed up again this time taking my mother and my brother, Melmar. That was the last time I ever saw any of my family. I never even got to say goodbye..." I'm shocked. Why is he telling me this? Especially right here on camera, he can easily be taken away and killed by the Capital.

I decide to at least unclench my fist, but I still don't feel like moving. "Well, that's some improvement," Haymitch says in a sad, depressed voice. "Okay, let's move on to your other hand. We'll just move step by step," he says warily. "What's that you're holding there?" He tries to unclench my fingers from the necklace that Peeta gave me, but I won't let him. If Peeta didn't tell him that the necklace was inside the bread, then I'm not going to let Haymitch see it. Haymitch looks like he just wants to have ten bottles of whiskey. Apparently he does too because he lifts me up and slings me across his shoulder. He goes over to Caesar Flickerman and says, "Tomorrow, please don't show any clips from the Games." Then he walks over to the elevator with me still on his shoulder.

When the elevator reaches the twelfth floor, Haymitch carries me over to my bedroom and drops me on my bed. As he is leaving out the door he says, "Be there for dinner," and then walks out. I don't move until I hear the sound of Haymitch's door closing behind him.

Why do I have to go to dinner? It's not like Haymitch actually cares about me, but I guess I'll go, for his sake. I get up from the bed and head over to the bathroom to take a shower. I take off my clothes and step into the warm water. After my shower, I choose a plain green shirt and comfy brown pants. Then, I braid my hair in its usual side braid. After I am all ready, I step out into the hall and head towards the dining room. When I get there, Effie, Cinna, and Haymitch are already sitting at the table eating. I sit down next to Cinna, not wanting to be stuck next to a drunk, depressed Haymitch and a "have good manners at all times" Effie. I'm not really hungry, so I just sit there absent-mindedly dipping my bread into hot chocolate. Nobody really has anything to say, so we just sit there, eating in silence. The silence is broken when Molly Harpin, Brutus, Riley Septimus, and Cato come out of the elevator. What's going on? I give Haymitch a questioning look that says _What the hell are they doing here?_ He just shrugs.

After minutes of silence Effie says, "It looks like you guys got the message. Come join our dinner we were just starting." She looks around at the dinner table and then as if she could sense the confusion says, "President Snow requested that the District One crew ate meals with us. They **are **our **friends** now." She puts a little to much emphasis on 'are' and 'friends'. Is she serious? Me and Cato Stone friends? Haymitch seems to be thinking the same thing and says while laughing, "HA! Good luck with that." Then he takes a big swig from the silver flask in front of him. The rest of the dinner goes by with few words spoken. Every once in a while Effie and Molly try to start conversations with people, but it is mostly small talk that dies out quickly. Only one of the conversations catches my attention.

"So Cato," Effie says, "what happened to your face? It looks like you got mauled."

Cato blushes, keeps his eyes on his plate and says, "Oh, I just got beat up by someone. No big deal."

"Well I think that is just awful! Who would ever do such a thing that is the worst thing I have ever heard of!" Effie rambles on.

Is she serious? **That** is the worst thing she has ever heard of? What about the Hunger Games, did she think about that? Next I find myself saying, "Really Effie? You really think that beating someone up, just a little bit, is the worst thing you have ever heard of?" Effie stares at me shocked that I am even speaking. Nobody interrupts me, so I continue talking. "What about what you do? You basically give kids a ticket to their death, especially being the District Twelve escort. Nobody ever wins. How many years have you been escorting?"

"Ten," she says in an incredibly small voice.

"Ten, so that means you have sent nineteen kids to their death. You are lucky to have at least one alive." I feel a hand on my shoulder and hear Haymitch's gruff voice, "Katniss come on lay off, it is not her fault." I shrug off his hand, angry that he is teaming up with Effie.

Effie looks like she is going to cry, but then she looks up at me with hate in her eyes. "Well, what about you?" she practically shrieks, "You killed Glimmer, Marvel, the District Four girl, and Peeta! You killed three people and all on purpose. One of them was even your dear lover, Peeta Mellark!" And with that she stomps out of the room.

I collapse into my chair as what she said hits me. I killed Peeta Mellark. I killed the person I so dearly loved. Somewhere in my head a voice says, _but it wasn't your fault, you did it to save him from the pain._ It doesn't matter, I still killed the boy with the bread.


	5. Chapter 5

****  
**Hi everybody! Thank you soooo much for all of the great reviews! Also thank you for putting my story on your favorites and story alerts. Y'all are awesome! This chapter gets kind of depressing, and it was incredibly hard to write. I kept on crying. I am sorry it took so long to write, but I have had a lot of homework this week, and it was hard getting back to school. Next chapter will definitely (maybe, it might get changed) be Cato's POV. I have some ideas floating around in my head for three new stories. 1. There never was a Katniss and Peeta, so basically they are replaced with different tributes. I will put up the first chapter of that tonight or tomorrow morning. 2. A oneshot, maybe twoshot, of what it is like to be Caesar Flickerman. It will be told in his perspective and will be awesome! (maybe). 3. SEE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER! Tell me what you think and remember, read and review! I hope you don't cry in this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Haymitch's POV**

Wow, I didn't know that Effie could actually talk back to anyone. I mean, it's not exactly good manners to do that, so I didn't think it was possible she could not have good manners. Katniss did have a good point though, and I think it is exactly what the rebels (if there ever are any) should fight about: getting rid of the Hunger Games.

I look down at Katniss. She is sitting with her elbows propped up on her knees and her head in her hands. She keeps on shaking her head back and forth, like she is trying to shake a thought out of her head. It must be what Effie said about her killing Peeta. I reach down and rub Katniss' back. What is wrong with me? I am really going soft. I **actually** feel sorry for the girl. I know, I know, big surprise there. I must not have enough alcohol in me and my emotions are betraying me.

I know that Katniss won't show her face in front of Cato. She is too scared of him. So, I start with ordering them out. "I think it's time for you to leave," I snarl at Brutus and the District Two team. Brutus glares at me back, but follows what I say. He leads the group to the elevator, and I notice that Cato turns around before he gets in. His face has pity written all over it. Wait. I thought he hated Katniss. He was so set on killing her in the beginning of the Games, and now he feels sorry for her? Maybe I'll find out how he feels for Katniss at the interviews tomorrow.

Now that they are gone, I turn to Katniss and say, "You can come out now. District Two has left." She lifts up her head a little and looks around the room. A relieved expression comes on her face and she puts her hands in her lap.

"Haymitch?" she says in a shaky voice.

"Yea sweetheart?"

"Can you get me a drink?" I burst out laughing. I can't help it. I just never thought I would see Katniss Everdeen wanting a drink. I nod while laughing and she blushes slightly.

When I return I come back with two bottles in my hands: one for Katniss and one for me. She snatches the one in my left hand from me and starts to gulp down big sips. She obviously has never had alcohol before because she lowers the bottle and starts coughing. She wipes away a stray tear that has run down her face.

"I don't get it," she whispers.

"Don't get what?" I question back, truly interested in what she has to say.

"How you continued to live once Nemit died." My smile disappears and I look Katniss in the eyes. She continues, "I mean, you had it worse than me. Snow killed off your whole family. He just killed off one person for me…" She gets a faraway look in her eyes and stares at a point on the ground.

"Well, I think it is pretty obvious what I did to cope with the loneliness and pain of sadness."

She shakes her head in confusion and takes another big sip from her bottle.

I point to the whiskey in her hand and say, "Alcohol. I could escape from the hell that I was living in. You will soon understand. We have to come back here every year and try and help two kids stay alive in the arena. Some are hard to let go, others you wont remember the next day. Most of the time I stay drunk because it takes my mind off of my family and the kids I send to their deaths each year."

"That's why you stuck up for Effie, isn't it?" she asks. I nod. "You understand what it is like," she continues, "you have to watch them die each and every year also."

I sigh. "Now you're catching on. And remember, you will have to do that too. It won't just be me anymore; it will be both of us.

She nods and we sit there together side by side in silence for minutes, sipping our whiskey. At one point I get up and get more bottles of whiskey, but other than that that is the only movement that either one of us make.

Finally Katniss asks, in an almost inaudible voice, "What about your father?" I turn to her and she looks me in the eyes. "You never once mentioned your father. Did the peacekeepers take him away also?"

I knew that she would ask this some day, and it was only a matter of time. I never mentioned my father when I told Katniss about my family, so I guess I have to tell her now. She has a right to know. "My mother was very young when I was born," I start, "seventeen to be exact; my father was sixteen. Both of them were considered outcasts because they were married and had had a baby at such a young age. When I was one, my mother was safe from the Hunger Games, but my father still had one more year…I think you can guess what happened next," I say. Katniss nods, but I continue anyways. "My father volunteered. We were a poor Seam family in need of money, and my father thought that if he went off and won the Hunger Games, then we would have as much money and happiness as we wanted. I remember that he trained all year before the Reaping. My mother always tried to talk him out of it. She would beg, cry, scream, and yell at him, but none of it ever worked. Nothing could stop him and his need for money. My mother watched the Games 24/7, never taking her eyes off of the screen. Then, after two weeks my father died. He was tortured to death by the big, intimidating District One career, who eventually won the Games. The District One tribute had had an alliance with the boy from District Three. Together, they set up an electric chair type of thing that shocked you to death. After the tribute they shocked had died, they would stab them through the heart, and write the tribute's name in their blood on a tree. They would then use it as target practice with their bows and arrows and knife throwing. While my dad was tortured, my mother watched the whole thing. I remember the expression on her face like it all happened yesterday…" I trail off and look at the bottom of my now empty bottle that had been full before I started the story.

I can feel Katniss' eyes on me. "I'm…sorry…" Katniss says in an even more deflated voice than before. "I know what it is like to lose a father, but not to the Hunger Games. I'm sorry you had to watch that. Especially when you were so young."

After she says that, I can't stand it anymore. I stand up and walk out of the door, tears coming down my face.

**Idea #3: ****Haymitch's dad's Hunger Games. All in his dad's POV, maybe I would switch to Haymitch during it a couple of times.**

**Say what you think about the ideas please. It would be appreciated.**


	6. Chapter 6

Here is just something for you guys because I feel bad that this chapter is taking so long. I'm almost done. It's the longest chapter I've written so far. This song will be in it and I wanted to let you guys see it. It is by Lykke Li and it's really good. Enjoy! Tonight Lykke Li

Watch my back so I make sure  
You're right behind me as before  
Yesterday the night before tomorrow  
Dry my eyes so you won't know  
Dry my eyes so I won't show  
I know you're right behind me

And don't you let me go, let me go tonight  
Don't you let me go, let me go tonight  
Don't you let me go, let me go tonight

Don't you let me go, let me go tonight  
Don't you let me go, let me go tonight  
Don't you let me go, let me go tonight

Walk the surface of this town  
With high heels above the ground  
And high horses that we know  
Keep us safe until the night

We know them all, I know it all  
Stay put and play along  
'Cause I'm looking for my friend  
Now I got you, got you

Don't you let me go, let me go tonight  
Don't you let me go, let me go tonight  
Don't you let me go, let me go tonight

Don't you let me go, let me go tonight  
Don't you let me go, let me go tonight  
Don't you let me go, let me go tonight

I dry my eye, dry my eye  
Falling deeper by the hour

Dry my eye, dry my eye, dry my eye  
Don't let me fall deeper now  
Dry my eye

Don't you let me go, let me go tonight  
Don't you let me go, let me go tonight  
Don't you let me go, let me go tonight

Don't you let me go, let me go tonight  
Don't you let me go, let me go tonight  
Don't you let me go, let me go tonight

Don't you let me go, let me go tonight  
Don't you let me go, let me go tonight  
Don't you let me go, let me go tonight

Don't you let me go, let me go tonight  
Don't you let me go, let me go tonight  
Don't you let me go, let me go tonight


	7. Chapter 7

Katniss' POV

"Katniss?" I open my eyes and find Peeta sitting in front of me with his legs out in front of him. He doesn't have a single scratch or scar on his body; he is beautiful. I look around and see that I'm in the middle of a gorgeous meadow, surrounded by dandelions. "Katniss?" Peeta asks again.

"Peeta!" I say running over to him and hugging him. But he doesn't hug me back.

I look up into his face. His eyes are looking into mine and are filled with sadness.

"Katniss?" he asks again. Why does he keep on saying my name? "Katniss, why didn't you save me?"

"W-w-what?" What is he talking about?

"Katniss, why didn't you save me? Now I'm dead, and you are all alone. Why didn't you save me?" he asks again. His voice is hollow and his eyes are swimming with tears.

"Peeta, I-I-I'm sorry. I tried, I really did, but…I was…too late." Great, now I'm crying.

"No you're not. You are not sorry!" Now Peeta's face is flushed with anger. "You never loved me. I could tell every time we kissed that you didn't mean it. I never meant anything to you."

"I didn't realize it then, but I loved you Peeta…I still love you…"

"Lies!" he shouts. Now he is standing up and starts pacing back and forth. I notice that he has something behind his back.

"Peeta, what are you holding?"

He gets a malicious look in his eyes and says, "You'll see."

Suddenly I am pulled to the ground by a pair of hands. They tie ropes around my arms and legs so that I can't move or get up. "Peeta! Help!"

"I'm not going to help you, you didn't help me. Also I'm –" he pulls out a long, sharp knife out from behind his back.

"No Peeta! Don't!" I cut him off before he can say the painful words.

But he continues, "Going to kill you." He grins crazily and puts the knife up to my neck.

"Peeta! Please! I'm sorry, I'm sorry. "I start sobbing uncontrollably and make the choking noises I always make when I cry. "Peeta, I tried to help you, I tried!"

"You have always been a bad liar," he sneers. Then he starts to laugh hysterically as he forces the blade deeper into my skin. Blood squirts out and lands in his eyes, but he continues to push the knife more and more into my neck. "Now you get what you deserve…death…"

"PEETA!" I open both of my eyes and look around me. How did I get in my room? My hand automatically goes towards my neck. I don't feel a cut or any blood. I lift my head up a little bit and immediately I get a pounding in my head and I can feel a burning sensation in my throat. I look over the edge of my bed and throw up. "Ugh," I say. Exactly how much did I have to drink last night? Last night…what even happened last night? I get up and stumble over to the bathroom where I throw up a few more times before I get into the shower. I use a lemon-scented shampoo to get rid of the puke smell.

When I step out, I throw up again. Great, now I smell like lemons and barf. I walk over to the closet, not even bothering to clean up the mess on the floor. I throw on a pair of brown pants and a plain black shirt. Then, I braid my hair and step out (more like fall) into the hall. I head down to the dining room and find Cinna and Effie sitting at the table, along with Cato and Brutus.

"Looks like someone finally got up," Cinna says in a cheerful voice. Why is he being so loud? I scowl at him then pull out a chair and sit down. "I hope sleeping in your bed was more comfortable than a chair in here." Oh, Cinna must have been the one that brought me to my room. I nod and start eating some eggs that are on my plate.

"Have you seen Haymitch, Katniss?" Effie asks me. Haymitch? Why would I know where Haymitch is? Oh yeah. I vaguely remember him talking to me last night. I think he was saying something important. I just don't remember what it was. I shake my head and continue to eat my eggs. "Well, he has to be ready for tonight. Tonight is your interview with Caesar Flickerman. Everybody in the

Capital is excited to hear what you two have to say about your experience in the Hunger Games." I glance at Cato and find him looking down at his breakfast. He must not want to relive his experience either.

"So what do we have to do to get ready for it?" I ask Effie.

"Well, since neither of you need to get sponsors any more, you don't need to prep with your mentor. I guess that means that all you have to do is go with your stylists in about an hour or two," Effie responds.

"Wait, what time is it?" I ask. If we only have a couple of hours until we meet with our stylist, then I must have slept really late.

"It's 1:30 right now. Nobody wanted to disturb you from your sleep," Cinna responds. Sure, I bet they just didn't want to deal with an overly depressed tribute.

"You kept on saying 'Peeta' so we assumed you were having a good dream." Cinna continues.

"I-I was saying 'Peeta'?" I ask remembering my nightmare. "Did I say anything else?"

"No, you just kept on repeating his name over and over again." Cinna replies.

Cato snickers and I scowl at him, making him laugh even more.

"What was your dream about?" Effie asks, obviously wanting to make small talk so we don't have to sit in an awkward silence.

"I don't remember it," I lie. Does she really think that I am going to tell anybody what I dreamed about? Especially since it was a nightmare.

Right at that moment Haymitch comes stumbling in. "Heyyy e'erbody! How 're y'all doing?" He obviously hasn't stopped drinking since he was with me last night. He must not have gotten any sleep.

"Haymitch!" Effie shrieks. "Do you know what today is?"

"Easter?" Haymitch asks.

"No!"

"Uhmm…your birthday?" Haymitch asks again before Effie can answer. I try to stifle a laugh as Effie points a finger at him.

"No! Today is the interview with Caesar Flickerman, and you have to be there in the audience. Do you really think that you can show up like this? I'm going to go make sure the attendants don't give you anymore liquor," she says with a humph and walks away.

Haymitch laughs, "Like doing that will stop me from drinking. Ha!" He sits down next to me and folds his arms across his chest. "So. Today's the interview huh?" he asks. Cato and I both nod. "Won't that be exciting? I know that we are all dying to hear what you two victors have to say about your experience. Wait. Get it? Dying, like dead. Like all of the tributes, but you two." He sticks out his tongue and pretends to cut his throat with his finger. Then, he starts laughing hysterically. Cato, Brutus, and I just sit there staring at him. He wipes away a few tears from laughing so hard. Wow. Haymitch really is despicable. "Geez you guys. Lighten up. It was just a joke." Haymitch says, a little breathless from laughing so hard.

"Yeah well it wasn't funny," Brutus says. This is the first time I have ever heard him talk in my life.

"Well aren't you cool, Mr. Brutus 'I'm so serious'? You don't have to be such a stiff." And with that Haymitch gets up and walks in a zigzag back to his room. Right before he closes the door to his room, he pokes his head out and says, "If Effie comes back, tell her that I'm getting ready." I nod, knowing that he's probably drinking from a stash of liquor in his room.

Brutus says something to Cato that I can't hear. He nods, and they both stand up. Cato mumbles good-bye and they walk to the elevator and get in it. Now it's just me in the dining room. I stand up. What should I do now? Then, I get an idea and start heading towards the stairs that lead to the roof.

When I open the door that leads outside, a rush of wind hits me. I smile. I feel like I haven't felt fresh air in ages. I can hear the sounds of the wind chimes from the garden, honking from the cars below, and chattering from the strange

Capital people on the streets. I walk over to the edge of the building and look down. I have never been scared of heights in my life, I guess it's from all of the tree climbing in the woods, so being one hundred forty feet in the air right now has no affect on me.

I start keeping track of all of the different colors that people are wearing because it keeps my mind busy. If I don't keep my mind busy then, I will start thinking about Peeta, and that will make me sad. I will also start thinking about my nightmare last night, and that will make me even sadder. It's not like

I didn't try to save Peeta, it's just that I…couldn't. It's not my fault, it's not my fault. I have to keep on telling myself this or else I will totally break. It's not my fault, it's not my fault…

Click. The sound of a door opening and closing has no effect on me. I don't care who it is.

"What's not your fault?" a deep voice says behind me. It's not close to me, yet not far away either. I don't respond, but the person keeps talking.

"You were just saying, 'It's not my fault,' over and over again."

I was? I guess I wasn't really paying attention. Sometimes I talk to myself, but I think this is just a side effect of my insanity. "Oh," I say in a bored voice. I hear the sound of the person's shoes on the concrete floor of the roof. When the noise stops, I see the figure of Cato Stone out of the corner of my eye. I keep my eyes trained in front of me, but I can still tell that Cato has put the weight that he lost in the arena back on. He is taller than I remember too, he towers over me like I'm just a little munchkin. I can feel his cold stare looking at me.

"Nice view isn't?" he says turning his focus to the outline of the Capital in front of us. I grunt in response. Does he really think that I'm just going to talk to him like nothing has ever happened between us? Like he never killed Peeta? "They're looking for you, you know? You're prep team. They're going crazy. They think that you left the building or something." I have to stop myself from laughing. I can just picture my prep team running around like a flock of birds trying to find something that doesn't even matter to them.

"Are you going to tell them I'm up here?" I ask, not really wanting to have to deal with my prep team.

"Only if you want me to," he replies.

"Fine," I concede, "let them make me pretty. We all know how long that takes." And with that I walk past Cato and out the door. As I went past Cato, I heard him mutter something, but it must not have been important because he didn't bother to repeat it when I didn't hear.

I walk down the stairs and open the door that leads back to the hall of the twelfth floor. When I open the door, all I can hear are my prep team's shrieks of, "There you are!" "We've been looking all over for you!" and "We all thought you ran away!" They whisk me away to my room where they immediately start beautifying me. They chatter away, asking me questions occasionally. I respond as short and brief as possible. How am I supposed to be answering Caesar Flickerman's questions when I can barely even answer with a yes or no to my prep team?

My prep team steps away an hour later and lets Cinna put my dress on me. He tells me to close my eyes so that I can be surprised. When I open them, I see a magnificent, shimmering dress in my reflection in the mirror. My eyes make their way up to my face, taking in every single detail in my dress.

"Oh! You look so beautiful," Octavia squeals. "What do you think?" She's trying so hard to cheer me up, and I'm about to smile and say how gorgeous the dress is, but my eyes catch my attention. They are hollow, ugly, grey eyes. They look like someone sucked the life out of them. They are incredibly out of place on my now beautiful face. "Do you not like it?" Octavia asks in a dejected voice.

"No, I love it. It's beautiful," but my voice isn't happy and bubbly like

Octavia's had been. It is hollow and empty, I'm just speaking words with no meaning behind them.

Cinna puts his arm around my body and says in a comforting voice, "Come on, let's go drive to the interview." He leads me to the door and we hop in one of the Capital's fancy cars, and we drive to the interview.

When I step out of the car there are, what seems like, millions of flashing cameras in my face. There are voices saying things like, "There she is! That's the girl on fire," and "She's so beautiful." None of these words have any effect on me. I just stare ahead of me and let Haymitch steer me towards the door leading backstage.

"Come on sweetheart, we will be inside soon," Haymitch says to me. I notice out of the corner of my eye that Cato and Brutus are walking next to me. Cato is smiling and waving to the crowd, and they are screaming and chanting his name. See what happens when you become a victor? Everyone loves you in the Capital, and you are forced to love them back like you don't hate them for sending you to your death.

We walk in the door leading backstage and a middle aged lady dressed in black.

"Welcome," she says. Then, she looks at Haymitch, "You and Brutus can go out and sit in the audience." Then she looks at Cato and me, "If you two will follow me, you will be going on stage in one minute." She leads us to the edge of the stage where the audience can't see us.

Caesar Flickerman walks onto the stage, flashing a smile and waving at the cheering crowd. "Hello everybody! Tonight is the night we have all been waiting for…the interviews with our TWO victors!" The crowd cheers louder as Caesar sits down in one of the three chairs on stage. "Now, who wants to see them?" Caesar asks the audience. They go crazy, screaming and yelling our names. "Well let's bring them out!" The lady nudges us and we take our cue. I let Cato walk out a few steps ahead of me. "Katniss! Cato! Katniss! Cato!" The crowd chants our names. We sit down in the two chairs. Cato takes the one closer to Caesar. I'm glad because I don't want to talk at all tonight. I think that Cato senses that, and will answer most of the questions. I hope that he does at least. "Welcome Katniss and Cato. It has been two weeks since you won the Hunger Games. Cato, how do you feel now that you have won?" Caesar turns his body to face Cato.

"I feel amazing," Cato responds. "I always knew that I would win the Games. It has been my life-long dream to."

"I'm sure," Caesar says. "How do you feel Katniss? I know that your sister must be happy that you are coming home." He has now turned his attention towards me, and I can feel the eyes of the audience on me.

How do I feel? I'm not happy I won, I'm not sad, I'm not angry, I guess I feel nothing. I don't feel anything, all I can think about is how Peeta's not here sitting next to me. He was supposed to be here sitting next to me.

"Katniss?" Caesar asks. I've taken too long to answer. "I asked you how you feel now that you have won the Hunger Games."

"Um," my voice is a little raspy from not talking all afternoon, "well…I don't really feel anything…I feel empty like everything has left me." I focus my eyes on a point in the distance. There, I've said it. I have admitted that I am broken. I have gone weak, the Games have made me weak, Peeta's death has made me weak. "Cato shouldn't be here!" A burst of anger has coursed through me. Caesar looks surprised, but quickly changes his face to a softer expression. "Peeta should be here sitting next to me…he deserves to be here…" Don't cry, don't cry, I must not cry. Peeta would not want me to cry.

"It's okay honey." Caesar says in a soothing voice. NO IT'S NOT. I want to scream at him, tell him that nothing will ever be okay. Nothing will ever be the same...I will never be the same. The anger that bubbled up inside me starts to ebb away. I slouch down in my chair and tune out Caesar and Cato's conversation.

"Katniss? Katniss are you with us?" I can vaguely hear Caesar Flickerman asking me. "Katniss I asked you if you could change your last words to Peeta what would they be?" This catches my attention.

I have known since I got out of the arena what I would have said to Peeta if I had had more time. "I would..."

**What do you think that she would say/do? Next chapter is in Cato's POV...sorry for the wait. Thank you for all of the great reviews!**


	8. Flashback

**Cato's POV**

_"PEETA!" she screams. Katniss runs over to the side of the cornucopia where I _

_have just thrown lover boy off of to his death. "Peeta...I'm so, so sorry." She _

_is now on her knees peering over the edge. Peeta says something back that I _

_can't hear. I feel like I am intruding in on a private conversation that nobody _

_is supposed to hear. So, I tune them out._

_I come back to my senses when I hear the sound of a cannon and see Katniss stand _

_up unsteadily and point an arrow at me. He is gone...dead._

_I look into her eyes and search for the anger that I am expecting her to have at _

_me for killing her precious lover boy, but find none. In fact, I don't see any _

_emotions at all. Her eyes are hollow, empty, dead. I look to her bow. Will she _

_shoot? Maybe she won't because she knows that I have my suit on._

_I take off my body armor. When I look up, I see shock in her eyes, but they quickly turn back to nothingness. I step closer to her and she backs away. I continue to walk _

_closer to her until the tip of her arrow is touching the cloth over my heart. _

_She is visibly shaking and her eyes are swimming with tears. I know that she _

_won't kill me. I have made her lose all the fire in her eyes. I have made the _

_girl on fire weak. Isn't this what I wanted? Ever since I saw her volunteer for _

_her sister I knew that she was the one to kill and that I must kill her, torture her. So, why am I not happy that I have broken her? Why do I feel bad for this pathetic figure in front of me?_

_I am suddenly aware that she is yelling at me. "I thought you wanted me dead! Well here's your chance! Ever since the battle started you have had it out for me. Now you can finally kill me!" She was right I had wanted her dead. So why can't I kill her now? Not even out of pity. We stand there staring into each other's eyes. Hers are grey, empty eyes with just the tiniest bit of hatred. They are filled to the brim with tears, threatening to spill out. She lets one go. I watch it as it slides down her face and falls on to the cornucopia. She looks like she is going to collapse. Would I catch her?_

_Then, all of a sudden, trumpets are blaring around us. Claudius Templesmith's voice echoes around the arena, "Ladies and gentleman, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Cato Stone and Katniss Everdeen. I give you the tributes from Districts Two and Twelve!"_

_I find it hard to tear my eyes away from Katniss'. But, once I know that she won't collapse, I turn away from her and start beating my chest. I've won, my life long dream has come true. So, why don't I feel happy?_


	9. Insane

**Cato's POV**

Why hadn't I killed her? I could have just ended her misery right then and there. Now, we are both sitting on stage next to Caesar Flickerman. He has been asking me most of the questions, but I know that nobody really cares what I have to say. They just want to hear what Katniss thinks. I have to say, I wasn't that surprised when Katniss admitted that she felt like everything had been sucked out of her. I could tell from looking in her eyes, even if she hasn't looked directly in to mine since the cornucopia.

"Katniss?" Caesar has switched his attention to Katniss. "Katniss are you with us? Katniss, I asked you if you could change your last words to Peeta, what would they be?" Kantiss' body tenses and then relaxes. I hadn't even heard what her last words to lover boy were, so I am sincerely interested in what she has to say. "I would have sung to him," she replies in a very quiet voice that only a few people can hear.

"Excuse me sweetie, but I don't think that everybody could hear you," Caesar says. Katniss blushes and starts to open her mouth, but quickly closes it and looks off into the distance. It's like something that happened in her head distracted her from talking.

"She said that she would have sung for him," I answer for her. What has gotten into me? I am not supposed to feel bad for her. I'm supposed to be laughing at how weak and cowardly she is acting. What has happened to the old Cato Stone?

"Yes, I remember Peeta saying that he first started to love you when he heard you singing in class." Caesar doesn't even acknowledge that I answered for her. He keeps all of his attention on Katniss. Katniss nods, but still doesn't look at Caesar. "What would you have sung?"

She slowly turns her head and looks at Caesar. Her empty eyes bore into his deep blue ones. "The one that I sang for Rue."

"Would you like to sing it for us?" Caesar questions her.

Katniss nods and then stands up. She has turned her focus back to the point in the distance that she was looking at. She opens her mouth and then closes it. Then, she does it again, and still nothing comes out.

Caesar senses her discomfort and says, "It's okay, take your time."

Katniss nods. She opens her mouth another time, but this time a beautiful sound comes out:

_Deep in the meadow, under the willow,_

_A bed of grass, a soft green pillow,_

_Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes,_

_And when again they open, the sun will rise,_

_Here it's safe, here it's warm,_

_Here the daisies guard you from every harm,_

_Here your dreams are sweet, and tomorrow brings them true,_

_Here is the place where I love you_

She starts to choke up, causing her voice to waver, but she continues.

_Deep in the meadow, hidden far away,_

_A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray,_

_Forget your woes, and let your troubles lay,_

_And when again it's morning, they'll wash away,_

_Here it's safe, here it's warm,_

_Here the daisies guard you from every harm,_

_Here your dreams are sweet, and tomorrow brings them true,_

Katniss pauses and tears start flowing down her cheeks. She barely gets out the last line, and when she sings, it is a small whisper.

_Here is the place where I love you._

Everybody is silent. A few people in the crowd are drying their eyes or blowing their nose with a tissue. Caesar pauses and waits until Katniss sits down to talk. Katniss stands there for a few more seconds before lowering herself slowly in to her seat, all the while keeping her eyes locked somewhere in the distance. Caesar reaches over to pass Katniss a tissue box, but she doesn't notice him. He takes his arm back and says, "Thank you Katniss. That was beautiful. I'm sure that Peeta would have loved it."

**Katniss' POV**

Why had I decided to do that? It just made me look and feel weaker than I already was. I can feel Cato's icy stare boring into my head, it sends shivers up my spine. He probably thinks that I have gone insane, and maybe I have…I see Caesar make a move and hold something out to me, but why should I acknowledge him? I feel Cato's elbow nudge me. Why did they put our chairs so close together? We would probably kill each other if I actually had the will to do it. I don't acknowledge him either. He is the enemy, he is the one that made me kill Peeta. Why don't I feel any anger towards him? Why don't I feel anything at all? Cato nudges me again, this time harder. Instinctively, my hand goes up to cover the spot where he nudged me on my arm. I turn to him and he tilts his head in the direction of where Caesar is sitting. Oh, he must have been talking to me.

"Thank you Katniss. That was beautiful. I'm sure that Peeta would have loved it." I nod, not really knowing what to say and not really wanting to talk. "Do you want a tissue?" I nod again, and Caesar passes me a tissue. I wipe away my tears and blow my nose lightly. "So we all know your famous words asking him to stay with you, but I don't think that anybody could hear what Peeta said back to you. Did you hear what he said?" Caesar is talking in a cautious voice, like if he says something wrong a bomb will go off. My body tenses. I don't really want anybody to know what Peeta said to me. It is between me and him…and maybe Cato if he heard it. I don't respond to him. "Katniss? Did you hear me? I asked you what his last words were to you." _Last words_...those two terms set something off in my head. Like the bomb that Caesar didn't want to set off erupted.

I start to shake uncontrollably and I can feel tears swelling in my eyes. _Last words_. As in never going to be able to talk again. As in never going to be able to see his face again. My hand reaches up to where my necklace hangs around my neck. One of my fingers finds the clasp that holds the picture of Peeta inside. The locket opens and I pull back the little door and see Peeta's smiling face. I thought that this would help me, but it doesn't. It makes me feel worse. I close the locket and bring my knees up to my chest. I don't care if I'm in a damn dress. I put my hands up to my ears and start swaying back and forth. Now, I can only faintly hear Caesar asking me if I'm okay. I close my eyes. I don't want to see or hear anything around me. I want this to all be a dream. I want to wake up and find Peeta lying down next to me. For the first time in my life, I want to go back into the games, just to see Peeta. I really am going insane.


	10. Chapter 10

**Katniss' POV**

Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Breath out. I just have to take deep, calm breaths and I will stay conscious. All I am aware of is the faint shouts of my name. Who is calling me? Who is trying to reach me? Too bad I don't want to reach them. The only person that I want to talk to is Peeta, and guess what. That's impossible…unless, but no I would never do that, would I? I would never stoop that low. I feel a pressure on my shoulder. Whoever's hand it is, it is rough yet comforting at the same time. I can feel them gently shaking me, trying to see if anybody is actually in my shell of a body. If I could would I leave it? The hand leaves my shoulder, and I wait for it to return. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. Suddenly I feel like I'm flying, soaring through the air with the greatest of ease. The only things I'm touching are the strong arms holding up my body. I open my eyes, curious to know who is carrying me. I can't quite make out who it is, but they have blonde hair. Then they look down and I see the chilling eyes of Cato Stone. All I can think about is one word. _Why?_ Why is he doing this? Maybe he is capturing me and taking me back to his room only to torture and kill me. That wouldn't be that bad. I mean, I have already lost my will to live. It will be a lot easier for someone else to do it. So my family won't get in trouble for my suicide, my defiance of the Capitol. _Or, _a little, teeny voice says in the back of my head, _maybe he is actually trying to help you_. No. I refuse to think that. Nobody has ever bothered to help me. Not when my father died, not when I was training before the Games, not in the Hunger Games, and not now. Nobody will ever help me.

A gush of wind hits me as Cato carries me outside. I hear the loud clap of thunder and five seconds later, feel rain pouring on my face. It's like a thousand needles are being poked into my face. I can see the ghost of lightning in the sky. Cato quickens his pace, and I close my eyes out of fear of being dropped. I hear the sound of a car door opening. Cato lowers me onto the seat of the car and lays me so that I am lying down. Then, the door closes and the car starts to move. At some point on the way back I fall into a deep, nightmare filled sleep.

_The flash of a bright light makes me open my eyes. I try to move my hand to rub my eye, but it is tied above my head and onto a pole. There is also a piece of cloth covering around my mouth and rope tied around my feet. I am immobile. The only things that I can move are my eyes, and there is not much to see. I'm tied up in a completely white room with no windows or doors. How did I get in here? There is a piece of bread next to me, but I can't even reach it._

_Part of the wall in front of me opens up and Cato walks in. "Hello Katniss. I see that you have finally woken up. I have been waiting for you." He walks over to me while pulling out a pocketknife. He cuts the rope binding my hands and feet together and the cloth covering my mouth._

_"Aren't you afraid that I'm going to attack you or run away?" I ask him._

_"Of course not. Why would you ever do that **sweetheart**?" he sneers at me. "Follow me." He leads me out of the small white room and into a long hall that seems to go on forever. We walk past a few doors, and then stop in front of a red one. Cato puts his thumb on a square on the wall, and the door slides into the wall. Cato lets me go in first, and what I see makes me fall to my knees._

_There is a giant glass window splattered in bright red blood. Just behind it are three lifeless bodies. Each are hanging at different heights from different lengths of rope. I scream, get up from my knees and run away. Where I am going I have no idea, but all I know is that I have to get away. Far, far away. "Katniss! Katniss!"_

"Katniss! Katniss! Wake up! It is just a bad dream, that's it." Haymitch is shaking me awake. He is shaking me so hard, I feel like my brain will fall out. " You are awake now, so you can stop screaming." I clamp my mouth shut just realizing that I was still screaming. "I'm going back to my room. Tell me if you need anything." Haymitch gets off of my bed and heads over to my door. He waves and then leaves my room. I close my eyes, but I can't get the faces of my mother, Prim, and Gale out of my mind. It felt so real. Their empty expressions, limp bodies, and gashes on their skin. I can't go to sleep now, so I stand up and head over to my door. Whoever brought me out of the car didn't bother to change me out of my interview dress. I quietly open the door and slip out into the hallway. I make my way over to the door heading to the roof.

**Cato's POV**

The Capitol looks so far away from the roof of the training building. I hear the open and close of a door. I can see Katniss Everdeen out of the corner of my eye. She still hasn't changed since I brought her up to her room.

"Couldn't sleep?" she asks me not even looking at me.

"Only because a certain someone was screaming their head off." I can see her blushing even in the darkness of the night. "Why are you up?"

"I couldn't fall back asleep. Too bad of a nightmare." Wow, I am very surprised that Katniss is even talking, let alone to me. I can feel her grey eyes staring at me. I look at her and her eyes are curious. "You have changed." she states. What does she mean by that? Then she turns her focus back on to the city's outline. "The Games change people, wether it is for better or for worse," Katniss says in a hollow voice devoid of any emotion. "I just don't think that I can do this anymore..." she says aloud after a long pause. I give her a quizzical look, but wether she notices or not she continues. "Will you do it Cato? Right here, right now. Kill me. I know you always carry around a knife, I can see it in your shoe." I thought I was the only one that knew about my knife. "Please Cato, please just end my misery now."

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that," my answer surprises me. Why can't I?

"Why not? You even told me while we were in the hospital that you wanted to kill me. What happened?"

"Like you said. I guess, the Games changed me. For the better or for the worse is up to you." I shrug while saying this. Then, Katniss reaches down and pulls out my knife.

"If you won't do it, then I will just do it myself."

"Sure you will," I say rolling my eyes. She is definitely not crazy enough to kill herself. I quickly change my mind as she holds the sharp knife up to her throat and presses it down. I lunge at her, and tackle her. "You can't do that!" I shout at her. What the hell does she think she is doing?

"I can do what ever the hell I want Cato Stone!" she snaps at me. She presses down even harder on the knife. I grab her hand and start pulling the knife away from her neck. She bites my hand, and I pull it reflexively away. We both stand up and I go for her again. This time I push her back against the wall. We struggle, fighting each other for control of which way the knife goes for what seems like forever. Then, Katniss let's go and I pull too hard. It flies out of my grip and over the edge of the building.

"I guess you won't be able to kill yourself tonight Katniss," I say in between deep breaths of exhaustion. But, she doesn't respond. She is facing where the knife flew off of the building and standing with her arms spread out. She looks at me, barely gets out "goodbye" before the knife zooms back and hits her square in the chest.


	11. Notice

**Sorry about that whole thing, fanfiction is acting up on me. :(**

**Oh yeah! Go check out the story LET THE GAMES BEGIN by yayatheelf. It is a work in progress and she definitely needs a few more reviews/favorites. Thanks for everything!**


	12. Chapter 12

**KATNISS POV**

White. That is all I can see. White, white, white, white, white. The floor, the ceiling, the walls, everything is white. I am wearing a long silk robe and my hair has been let loose from my usual side braid. There is a person coming towards me. He is wearing a white button down shirt and white pants. His skin is perfect, there is no flaw on his body. "Katniss!" he shouts in joy. His voice is unmistakable; it belongs to none other than the boy with the bread.

"Peeta!" I exclaim and run towards him. He extends his arms, and I jump into them and wrap my legs around his body. He is real, I can feel him, I am with Peeta. I start to kiss him all over his face. "I have missed you so, so much," I exclaim, tears threatening to spill over.

"Well don't cry over it," he says wiping away a few stray tears.

I stop kissing him all of a sudden. "Wait. Where am I? How did I get here?"

Peeta gives me a sad smile. "Remember? The knife rebounded off of the force field surrounding the training center." His smile falters after he explains.

"So am I dead?" If I was dead, where was everybody else? Why is it just me and Peeta?

His smile disappears completely now. "Fortunately you are not dead. This is all just happening in your head."

"Are you serious? What am I going to do when I wake up? Huh? How am I going to keep on living without you? I will always just be a living corpse, feeling no emotion at all. What am I going to do when I get back to District 12? Nobody will be happy with me since I let Cato stay alive."

"It's not up to me what you do, it's up to you, and maybe a little help from dear old Haymitch. But whatever you decide to do, try and be at least just a tiny bit happy

...for me."

"I'll try," I respond. And I really will as long as it makes Peeta happy.

He buries his head into my hair and takes a deep breath in. "You should wake up now."

"No! I don't want to have to leave you, even if you are just made up in my head...I can't live without you."

"Yes you can! Now go!" He pushes me and I feel like I am falling. Spinning around in the air, not worrying about where I'm going to land.

Voices pull me back to reality. There are two and they are shouting.

"What the hell were you thinking boy? You can't just try and kill people like that!" I know that voice...Haymitch! I remain silent so I can hear who Haymitch is talking to.

"I know, I'm sorry," a deep voice responds. It must belong to Cato.

"SORRY! This deserves much more than an apology! You tried to kill the girl!" Haymitch is yelling right now and I can picture him all up in Cato's face.

"Look, I don't know what more you expect of me. I told her that I wanted to kill her the day she woke up in the hospital. It's Katniss' fault she trusted me," Cato's voice is getting louder now. Is he really sticking up for me? Why isn't he just telling Haymitch that I attempted to commit suicide? "And it's not like I actually killed her. The knife only just missed her heart."

"Yeah, but the fact that you would even try to kill her…what the hell is wrong with you? Are you fucking stupid? Are you mental? I mean seriously…" Haymitch's voice is as loud as it can go now. I have never heard him this angry before. I mean, it's not that big of a deal. I wanted to die anyways and it's not even Cato's fault.

"**I'm** mental. You think that **I** am the crazy one here? There are two people in this room that are definitely crazier than me. You drink all the time, never stop to take a breath, and you call me crazy? And then there is Katniss over here that has barely even spoken two words to you since she has gotten out of the arena! Don't you think that you should help her? Ask her if she's ok?" Cato's voice has gotten even louder than Haymitch's.

"Look, I know I haven't been that great helping her out, but I'm not her mentor anymore. I don't need to constantly take care of her and give her pointers. If you are so worried about her than why don't you help her? Huh? Have you thought about helping her at all?"

"Actually, I have. Maybe that is why I decided to kill her. To get her out of her misery." Wow, Cato is a good liar. I should really take lessons from him.

"No boy, I know for a fact that you attempted to murder her because you still hate her. You hate how Katniss stole all of the fame of winning from you. Well if you really want all of that fame to yourself, then why didn't you just kill her when you had the chance to in the arena?" I hear the sound of the door to my hospital room slamming shut behind Haymitch.

"Whatever," Cato mumbles, and then he leaves the room.

I open my eyes. This is the second time I have been in the hospital since the arena. I really need to stop injuring myself. The doctors have changed me out of my interview dress and it is lying on a chair besides my bed. It is no longer as beautiful as it once was. The radiance of the red and orange, matching a flame, have been tainted by fluorescent red blood in the area where my heart was. I look down at my chest. It is covered in a white cotton hospital gown, and underneath it, my chest is wrapped in bandages. The bandages must once have been white, but now are stained red. How far did the knife go through my skin? When it hit me I barely even felt the pain. Maybe because I already have so much pain in my heart from Peeta's death, that I am incapable of feeling anything else. That must be the reason because any normal person would have at least cried out in pain or flinched or something.

My thoughts are interrupted by the opening and closing of my room's door. A short, yet freakishly skinny, man walks in. His eyebrows are two inches above where normal eyebrows are and they are dyed pink. His eyes are also dyed a similar shade of pink, and he is wearing an all pink doctor's lab coat, even his hair is dyed pink. Wow, how am I supposed to take this doctor seriously when he reminds me of Effie Trinket's wig? "Hello Katniss," he says in a surprisingly deep voice, "I am Doctor Dunbryll and I will be assisting in your recovery from your wound." Great, I'll be stuck with this Capitol snob. I nod and smile anyways because, as I have learned from Effie, it is polite and kind to smile and appreciate people even if you hate them. I want to gag just thinking about it. "Your recovery will take at least a week. Just imagine if you had gotten stabbed in the old days before new technology. It would have taken at least a month!" That's the only thing I like about the Capitol, it's ability to heal things quickly and efficiently.

"So what exactly do I have to do to recover," I ask. I mean really, is there anything I have to do?

"Nothing really. You just can't get up and walk around, and you can't move too often. The movement might reopen your cut, and you will have to stay with us even longer. When your recovery is over you may return back to District Twelve, but that is only if you are ready." That's okay by me, but I'm not entirely sure that I'm ready to face my family…and Gale. I know, I know call me a coward, but you wouldn't want to either after everything I have gone through. Will it will be awkward now that they know I am a murderer?

"Well Katniss, are you ready?" Doctor Dunbryll asks.

"Ready for what?"

"The first stage of your recovery."


	13. Chapter 13

Katniss POV

…One week into the recovery…

It has only been one week since I met Dr. Dunbryll, but it feels like it has been years. I am taking two types of medicine. One is a pain medicine, to help reduce the pain that I feel whenever I twist or turn in my uncomfortable hospital bed, and the other is a medicine to help my wound heal, it is called Candrat. The Candrat makes me have serious mood swings. Most of the time I am angry, but sometimes I can be seriously depressed or, on very rare occasions, happy. And it just so happens that the Candrat has made me frustrated and angry with everyone and everything today, the day that Cato decides to visit me for the first time since my attempted suicide.

I can hear the door to my hospital room open and close and I see a blur of pink through my halfway open eyes. "Katniss?" Dr. Dunbryll is shaking me awake. "Katniss you have a visitor." I open my eyes, but quickly close them because the pink is blinding me. "First you have to take some Candrat though." I make a face at him. He knows that I hate all of the medicine that I have to take. He also knows that I hate him. "It will help you have a quick and easy recovery. Remember?" I nod, how could I forget that it will help me? He reminds me everyday.

I pop the two pills of Candrat in my mouth and wash it down with some water. "Who's my visitor?" I ask in a raspy voice, I haven't talked to anyone for a week. I haven't even had any visitors. You would think that a victor would have at least one, but nope, I don't have any.

"It is Cato Stone, he has asked to se you. Now I want you to be careful. He has been going through therapy to make sure that he won't kill you again, but he is not a hundred percent ready to see you without a guard in the room." Therapy? Cato didn't even do anything and he has to go through therapy?

"I don't think that a guard will be necessary Doc.," I say, I mean really what harm can he do to me?

"I will have to ask Dr. Wooten, the psychologist, about that, but I'm sure that it will be okay. Dr. Wooten has been telling me how Cato is such a great boy and is easy to work with. He also said that Cato won't have to do anymore therapy after a few more days." Oh great, isn't Cato just the best person in the world? "Let me go ask Dr. Wooten now and then I'll just send in Cato and maybe a guard." Then Dr. Dunbryll turns on his heel and walks out of the door.

Ten minutes later, my door opens and closes, but this time Cato walks in. He is unaccompanied. "So, they decided to let you in without a guard. Don't you feel special?" I say while rolling my eyes, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "The doctors must think that you won't try and kill me again," I snap at him. What is up with me? I should be thanking him for not telling everybody that I tried to kill myself, not yelling at him for having the doctors like him so much. Am I jealous?

"I thought you would be happy that I stuck up for you," he mumbles while looking at the floor.

"Happy? You think that I would be happy? I barely even remember what it's like to be happy. I have lost Peeta, I'm still alive when I wanted to die, and I am stuck here in a room with you, and you think that I would be happy? You really have some nerve." My voice is getting snappier with each sentence that escapes my mouth. "You are the happy one. Everyone in the Capitol absolutely adores you, you have fulfilled your dream of winning the Hunger Games, and you have no reason to kill yourself."

Cato's face gets red and both of his hands clench into tight fists. I notice that mine are doing the same. "What if I'm not happy either? You are not the only one here taking medicines to help you. The doctors decided to put me on some pills called Candrat. I guess it is supposed to help me control my temper." Well it is obviously not working because Cato's voice is raising and his fists are even tighter. Wait a minute…

"D…d…did you say Candrat?" I stutter, not being able to comprehend what he was saying. "I'm on Candrat too, but it's supposed to help my cut heal...So you say that they told you it was to help your temper?" he nods. I look down at my lap where my hands are playing with the blanket covering me, and I start talking to myself under my breath, "so if Candrat doesn't help to heal my cut and it doesn't help Cato control his temper, then what does it do?" I look up at Cato, "does the Candrat make you have mood swings? Like sometimes you are really sad and then the next moment you are incredibly happy?"

"Yeah, I started to notice that a few days ago when I started to cry over two puppies fighting each other. Who cries over that?" There is something that Cato isn't telling me. Like he wanted to add in another example, but he thought it was too personal or something. "So if this medicine isn't for what either of our doctors said it was for, then we should just stop taking it," Cato suggests.

"No," I say, "I have a feeling that it won't be as easy as you make it sound."

"Well you aren't a psychic, so how do you know whether it will work or not?" Cato's voice is getting very loud now, and I am starting to get scared of him.

"I don't, I just have a feeling that it won't work...What if I stay on the Candrat and you stop taking it. We know that it obviously doesn't help your temper, but we don't know what it does to me other than that it gives me mood swings."

"Fine, Miss Smarty Pants let's all just listen to you and let you boss us all around. Who died and left you in charge?" Okay, something was seriously happening with Cato. He must be having a major mood swing.

"Hey, you don't have to be the only one with the ideas around here. And anyways, I was just suggesting it. It's not like I am forcing you to stop taking the Candrat, I was just voicing my thoughts." Great, now we are fighting.

"You didn't make it sound like you were just voicing your thoughts," Cato says while taking a few steps closer to my bed. I shrink down and pull the cover up to my chin, wincing in agony from my wound. Then it dawns on me, the games have changed me into a coward. I am a crying, weak coward.

I attempt to pull myself back up to a sitting position to show that I'm not afraid of him, but the pain in my chest ripples through me before I even put weight on my arms. Suddenly, everywhere hurts. I shut my eyes and my arms, which are propping me up, give out. I start to fall back onto the bed, but I hit my head on the wall. My vision becomes blurred and darkness is threatening to engulf me. "Katniss, Katniss!" I can hear someone calling my name, trying to reach me. "Stop," someone says, but that is the last thing I hear before somebody hits me on the head with something very hard. The blackness grabs me, takes me in to it's grip. I can hear voices from somewhere far away, wanting me to come back to them, to not leave them. My body is being shaken, but all I feel like is a walking corpse. Even Cato's eyes widened when he entered my hospital room. He's probably wondering what I've become. I looked in the mirror the other day and I was as pale as a white sheet, my eyes had dark rings under them from lack of sleep and were full of pain and sadness, my cheeks were thinner than when I was thirteen and dying from starvation, and my lips were formed in a permanent grimace that will never go away. The voices are gone, I am in complete blackness except for a tiny light high above me. It's like I'm stuck in the bottom of a deep well with no way of escaping. Peeta materializes and I realize that I have three choices: try to go towards the light, go with Peeta, or stay here stuck in the well. In other words, stay alive, join Peeta in death, or stay stuck in the limbo of neither alive nor dead. I choose the latter one. Peeta vanishes, the light is extinguished and now it's only me in the depths of the well. I try to stand up, try to see if there are walls, but I can't move without being seized by the pain from my wound. I can't panic, everything will be okay...right? My breathing starts to quicken and it feels like I'm breathing through a straw. I try to take a deep breath, but find no air. Am I dying?

I flashback to a time long ago. I was sitting on my father's lap and he was rocking me back and forth. We were sitting in silence until he broke it, "Katniss, whatever happens, I want you to stay strong and get through each day. You may get scraped or bruised, but you are tough, you are unstoppable."

I don't feel unstoppable now. Is my father disappointed or does he understand what I'm going through? What happens if I do die? What will become of mother and Prim? Will Gale take care of them like he promised to? I don't have time to answer any of these questions before my breathing stops and my brain shuts down...

**3rd Person POV**

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The machine that Katniss is hooked up to is showing her heartbeats, and right now there aren't any. Three doctors run into the room. They start trying to restart Katniss' heart. "Clear!" one of the doctors shouts. Another presses down on Katniss' heart with a shock machine that sends shock waves to the heart to try and get it pumping blood again. The third doctor is checking for Katniss' pulse on her neck and wrist. "Nothing," the third doctor says, "try again." The first one speaks again, "Clear!" the second doctor sends another shock to Katniss' heart. Nothing. The machine is still a straight line depicting Katniss' heart beat.

The door to the hospital room burst open and a breathless Haymitch enters. "What happened to her? What did Cato..." He stops short mid-sentence after taking in the scene in front of him. "No! She can't be!" Haymitch actually sounds sincerely sad. Tears start to swell up in his eyes.

"Nothing!" the third doctor says.

"Keep trying!" Haymitch yells.

"Clear!" the first doctor says. The second doctor sends yet another shock to Katniss' failing heart.

"Noth..." the third doctor starts to say before the machine reads that Katniss heart is barely working. Her breaths are coming out raspy. One of the doctors puts a mask to her face that gives her air to have her keep breathing.

Two of the doctors exit the room and the first one stays. He is writing something on a clipboard. "What happened to her?" Haymitch demands.

"Well, she fell back and hit her head in the wall, so that combined with the pain in her chest from moving caused her to almost faint. When she was trying to stay awake Cato attacked her with a metal rod and hit the side of her head right here." He points at the huge gash on the side of Katniss' head. "We will have to do some tests to see if her brain was damaged in any way. She might have a dent in her skull though because of the great force that Cato smashed her with. So after he hit her she blacked out into something like a coma, which she could be possibly be in now. While she blacked out, her heart started to fail to pump blood and it gave out. Which means she died until we were able to shock her heart to start again. I will do a few tests on her heart because I think that it may have gotten weaker when Cato stabbed her on the rooftop." He walks out of the room and Haymitch sits down in the chair beside Katniss' bed with a sigh.

"Well you gave me quite a scare there sweetheart. What would we ever do without the Girl on Fire?"


	14. Chapter 14

Cato's POV

Woosh. The knife flies through the air and hits her square in the chest. "Noooo!" I scream, "Katniss!" She falls with no noise, no yell, no intake of breath, just a look at me and a soft goodbye, her grey eyes searching my eyes for something that I don't know. I run over to her motionless form and put one hand behind her neck and lift her head up. I bend over and put my head against her heart, listening, praying, hoping for something that tells me she is okay. I hear a faint, weak heartbeat. I let out an intake of breath that I didn't even know I was holding, and pull my head away from Katniss' heart. Just as I reach to pull out the knife in her chest, the door to the rooftop flings open and Haymitch walks out.

"I heard a noise. Is everythi..." he stops mid sentence as he walks up to me holding Katniss and the hilt of the knife. I'm in trouble, deep trouble. This must look really bad. He grabs me by the collar and pulls me up so that I am dangling in the air. As I am pulled up, Katniss' head lands with a loud clunk on the cold tile of the roof's floor. I keep my grip on the knife, just in case I need it to defend myself with it, and it slips out of the deep cut in Katniss' chest. "How could you? And to think that I thought you had grown a soft spot for her. Did you really think that you could get away with killing her like this?" Haymitch has now moved his free hand up to my neck and is gripping it as hard as he can. I try to say that she is still alive, but no words come out. "Don't try to make any excuses," he says while tightening his grip around my neck. The edges of my vision are beginning to go black and fuzzy. I attempt to motion to Katniss' still life form with my hand holding the knife, but I am too weak to even move my arm. I look into Haymitch's eyes and then at Katniss. He follows my gaze and he notices a small teardrop coming out of her eye. He releases his vice grip on me and I drop to the floor. My head is foggy and my sight is filled with black dots threatening to engulf my whole vision. I try to scream out for help, but no words come to my mouth. I can make out the outline of Haymitch picking up Katniss. He turns, and just before he walks down to the hospital, he kicks me hard in the head. Scenes flash through my head, bad and good. I am shaking Katniss' hollow body at the interviews, I am carrying her off of the stage and into the car, Clove and I are laughing and planning different ways to kill loverboy and Katniss, I'm throwing Peeta off of the cornucopia to his death…Everything is my fault, Katniss is like this because of me. The pain pierces through my skull, and everything goes black.

I can see the sunlight through my eyelids as I wake up for the first time since I blacked out on the rooftop. My eyes flutter open, and I see that I'm in a white hospital room. There is a middle-aged man dressed in all pink sitting in a chair on the wall to the right of my bed. He is writing something down on a clipboard. When he looks up he smiles and says, "I see that you have woken up. I am Doctor Dunbryll. While you were passed out I did some tests on you, and it looks like you have been choked very severely and you have major trauma to your head, I think that you might have a concussion. Do you know who the person was that was choking you because whoever strangled you was really close to killing you. You should consider yourself lucky m'boy." I have a bad feeling about this guy, do I trust him enough to tell him that Haymitch choked me? No, I will never trust anybody that comes from the Capitol. I shake my head at the strange man sitting in front of me, not wanting to even find out what my voice sounds like. "Come on Cato, you should know that I would never lie to you," Doctor Dunbryll says like we have known each other for forever, "so why are you lying to me?" I shake my head again, trying to explain that I am not lying to him, even when I am. "Whatever you say, it's your punishment," he says with a shrug of his shoulders. Punishment? I try to keep my eyes from widening, but Doctor Dunbryll notices and chuckles. "Don't worry, I will try not to make it too bad." I just glare at him in response. Is he joking or is he serious? "You won't have a trial," he says changing the subject, "but Haymitch Abernathy claims that he saw you stab Ms. Everdeen in the heart and he says that he has evidence too. You better tread carefully because even though you are a more liked victor than Haymitch, he can still call for a trial if you make another wrong move." I nod, noting that I should get back on Haymitch's good side, not like I was already on it. Doctor Dunbryll stands up from his chair and makes his way over to me. "A nurse will be coming in shortly to be giving you your dosage of the medicine Candrat and Herriot. Since you are known for your temper and hatred of um...certain...people, the medicine Candrat will lower your anger and will also keep you out of depression. There are only a few side effects when you first start on it. Like mood swings, headaches, and nausea. But all I am asking of you now is that you take the medicine and get as much rest as possible. The medicine Herriot is for your voice, after a few days on it your voice should be restored back to normal. Try not to use your voice very often because the medicine won't work if you talk a lot. Also, after you regain your voice, you will be seeing the psychiatrist, Doctor Wooten." I snap back to reality when I realize what he is saying, I'm going to need to go to a psychiatrist. I glare at Doctor Dunbryll, not believing that he really wants me to see a psychiatrist. What does he think I am, crazy? The corners of the Doctor's mouth twitch up as he says, "I will be checking on you later when, or if, you want dinner. Goodbye Cato, I have much more important patients to attend to." And with that he turns on his heel, walks to the door, and exits the hospital room. I sit in a silence that doesn't feel quiet at all as I wait for the nurse. My head is throbbing from what all of the voices in my mind are saying, the fighting between the good side of my brain and the evil. _Evil: Darn it, I wish Katniss could have just died, then I would be able to have all of the fame for myself. Good: No, Katniss is just a broken girl you don't just kill people like that. Evil: Well too bad, you already killed countless numbers of children in the Hunger Games._ Maybe I really am crazy if I'm arguing to myself in my head. The sound of heels clicking on the linoleum extinguishes the quibbling in my mind. The door to my hospital room opens and a lady enters wearing a white nurse uniform. "Hello Cato! I'm Nurse Fyodora, and I am here to give you your medicine," the woman says in a high, Capitol voice with a smile. "Here is the Herriot," she says handing me a big pill and a cup of water. When I swallow the Herriot she hands me two more pills and another cup of water. "And here is the Candrat," she says, her smile faltering a tiny bit. I want to ask her if she's okay, but I can't use my voice thanks to Haymitch. "I will come again tomorrow morning with more dosage of your medicine. Feel better Cato." Then Nurse Fyodora turns and exits my room

Throughout the next few days my only visitors are Nurse Fyodora and occasionally Doctor Dunbryll to check in on me. Finally, I am released and the first thing I do is go visit Katniss who I hear is still knocked out from the painkillers. When I enter her room Haymitch is already in there. "What the hell were you thinking boy? You can't just try and kill people like that!" Nice to see you too, I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes.

"I know, I'm sorry," I say not being able to think of anything else to say.

"SORRY! This deserves much more than an apology! You tried to kill the girl!" Haymitch is yelling now and he has moved towards me so that we are only a few inches apart.

I start to raise my voice to match Haymitch's, "Look, I don't know what more you expect of me. I told her that I wanted to kill her the day she woke up in the hospital. It's Katniss' fault she trusted me. And it's not like I actually killed her. The knife only just missed her heart." At least that's what I've been told has happened.

"Yeah, but the fact that you would even try to kill her…what the hell is wrong with you? Are you fucking stupid? Are you mental? I mean seriously…"

Is he serious right now? "I'm mental. You think that I am the crazy one here? There are two people in this room that are definitely crazier than me. You drink all the time, never stop to take a breath, and you call me crazy? And then there is Katniss over here that has barely even spoken two words to you since she has gotten out of the arena! Don't you think that you should help her? Ask her if she's ok?" Thinking back on it now, maybe I am crazy. Arguing with myself in my head earlier, obsessing over killing loverboy and Katniss, training for the Hunger Games my whole life, killing the District 3 boy out of anger...I definitely am crazy.

"Look, I know I haven't been that great helping her out, but I'm not her mentor anymore. I don't need to constantly take care of her and give her pointers. If you are so worried about her than why don't you help her? Huh? Have you thought about helping her at all?" Haymitch replies angrily.

"Actually, I have. Maybe that is why I decided to kill her. To get her out of her misery." I respond with the same amount of intensity in my voice.

"No boy, I know for a fact that you attempted to murder her because you still hate her. You hate how Katniss stole all of the fame of winning from you. Well if you really want all of that fame to yourself, then why didn't you just kill her when you had the chance to in the arena?" and then he walks out of the room. Why didn't I kill her in the arena?

"Whatever," I say, unhappy on how my visit turned out. Needing to vent out some of my anger I leave Katniss' hospital room and head towards Doctor Wooloo's, or whatever his name is, office. I have been meeting with him ever since I regained my voice and the only useful thing I have gotten out of the meetings is the Anger Room. This room is full of stuff that I can throw to let out my anger. Instead of directing it at people, Doctor Wooshu wants me to vent it out by myself. He says that next I will be starting a hobby where I can "channel my temper into." The only hobby that I can picture myself doing is killing people, and that sounds just fine and dandy to me. I really have to stop thinking murderous thoughts or else nobody will want to be around me. Oh wait, nobody wants to be around me now. I enter the door labeled 'Psychiatrist Wing' and head towards the Anger Room. On my way there I run into the doctor. "Hi Doctor..." I pause to read his nametag, "Wooten, I was just going to the Anger Room. It's nothing major, I just need to let somethings out."

"Okay Cato, I look forward to our next meeting." and then Doctor Wooten continues walking. That's strange, usually he is very talkative. Eh, I won't fret about it. I turn the corner and walk down to the end of the hall. On the right wall there is a door labeled 'Anger Room.' I enter and throw everything in sight. I pretend that the objects are people. Haymitch because he is always getting on my nerves, Doctor Dunbryll for just being an annoying doctor, the Capitol in general for just sitting around and watching us kill innocent people, the list goes on and on.

Two hours later, I have finally gotten all of my anger out. I hear a knock on the door and the loud creak of it opening. "Cato?" Dr. Wooten asks. "It is time for our meeting now, so just follow me to my office and then we can get started." I nod in response and follow the tall man out of the Anger Room. He leads me down various hallways before we finally enter his office. It has two armchairs facing each other, a desk piled with papers, and diplomas on the wall displaying his license to be a psychiatrist. He is probably going to ask me why I wanted to go to the Anger Room and I will have to explain my encounter with Haymitch. But instead, Doctor Wooten talks about Katniss. "I don't know if you know this or not Cato, but Katniss has woken up and she has started her recovery. Her file says that she is doing well, but seems troubled by something." Doctor Wooten continues to scan the file. "Oh look here, it says that she is also on Candrat, maybe they just wanted to keep her out of depression..." he starts talking to himself, "but here it says it is for her heart..." Doctor Dunbryll had said that Candrat was a medicine to control temper, why would Katniss be taking it for her heart? Something is going on here; I need to find out more about this Doctor Dunbryll. "Cato, I'm sorry, but we will have to cut your meeting short. I need to talk to Doctor Dunbryll about a...error...I found in his file for Katniss." He gets up and I stand up also. "Until next time," he says taking my hand and shaking it.

"Bye," I say as he leaves the room. I awkwardly stand there for a few minutes before I realize something. I should follow him. He is probably going to ask Doctor Dunbryll about the Candrat medicine. I quickly walk out the door and enter the hallway. I head towards the exit of the Psychiatrist Wing because Doctor Dunbryll is probably in the Hospital Wing. When I get to his office I put my ear against the door. Nothing. I knock two times on the dark mahogany door.

"Come in," Doctor Dunbryll says. I take a deep breath and enter the room. "Hello Cato," he says in a surprised voice, "what can I do for you?"

"I am looking for Doctor Wooten. He said that he was coming here to talk to you about something."

"Ah yes, he was informing me that he was resigning. I'm sorry that he didn't tell you this. We will try to find you a replacement as soon as possible." I nod, knowing that he is lying about something.

"Thank you for your time," I say while turning to the door and leaving.

Just as I am about to leave Doctor Dunbryll's office, he says, "Oh and Cato, please don't talk about this to anyone else. It is classified information." I nod again and leave his office, knowing that he is lying.

**Doctor Wooten's POV**

This was not right, how could Cato and Katniss both be on Candrat? I am about to enter Dunbryll's office when his door opens. "Ah Wooten, come on in. What is it that you would like to talk to me about? A drink?" he asks handing out a glass.

I wave him off and say, "I was reading through Katniss Everdeen's file, and it says that she is on Candrat. Why would she be on Candrat when it is a medicine for temper?"

Dunbryll smiles at me, "I see that you are a very smart man Wooten. If you would like to know what the medicine is really for you will have to follow me. He leads me to the elevator which takes us down ten more floors. The doors open up and we walk out into the floor that holds all of the top-secret files. We reach a vault door and Dunbryll puts his eye up to a scanner, and the door opens. Inside are rows of filing cabinets labeled with a letter. Dunbryll walks over to the 'C' filing cabinet and opens the drawer. He rifles through the files until he finds the one-labeled Candrat.

He opens the folder and hands it to me. What I read I am astonished. When I finish it, Dunbryll says, "Now if you will follow me, I have one more thing to show you." I nod and put the file back. He guides me to the elevator yet again, and we go down six more floors. The elevator doors open up in to a small room with a bowl of berries on a table in the middle of it. "Goodbye Wooten," Dunbryll says right before the elevator doors close and it goes back up. What is this room? I search the wall next to the elevator for a button to take the elevator back up, but there isn't any. I walk over to the bowl in the middle and I take a step back. I know these berries, I recognize them from somewhere, but I just can't remember where. I pick one up and roll it around in between my thumb and pointer finger. Then, I bring the berry up to my mouth and pop it in. I chew it once and then swallow it. Just as it goes down my throat, I remember what it is. Nightlock.

**Cato's POV**

...One Week Later...

Doctor Wooten hasn't picked up his phone all week. He had given me his cell phone number in case of emergencies, but now he is ignoring me. This past week has been the most boring week of my whole life. Doctor Dunbryll never gave me a substitute for Doctor Wooten, so I spent my time trying to find out more about Candrat. I looked it up in a medical book Nurse Fyodora gave me, but it wasn't in there. I asked Nurse Fyodora who said that it was for my temper, the head doctor who again said it was for my temper, somebody working in the Psychiatrist Wing who had never heard of it, but everyone I asked had either never heard of it or said it was for temper. I am certain that that is a lie because Katniss certainly does not have a temper. Other than researching about Candrat, I have also spent a lot of my time in the Anger Room. Unleashing my anger at Doctor Dunbryll and the Capitol. Finally I get the courage to visit Katniss. I walk into her room and my eyes immediately widen. It takes me awhile before I convince myself that she is not dead, she just looks dead. Her eyes are lifeless and drooping down with lack of sleep, her hair has become wiry and thin, her cheekbones stick out unnaturally, and her skin is an abnormal shade of a sickly white

"So, they decided to let you in without a guard. Don't you feel special?" Katniss says rolling her eyes. "The doctors must think that you won't try and kill me again," she snaps at me. Wow, what is with these District Twelve people and manners? First Haymitch yells at me the second I walk in to visit Katniss and now Katniss is being rude to me when I didn't even do anything to her.

I look down at my shoes, scared of what Katniss can do, even when she is weak, and say quietly, "I thought you would be happy that I stuck up for you."

"Happy? You think that I would be happy? I barely even remember what it's like to be happy. I have lost Peeta, I'm still alive when I wanted to die, and I am stuck here in a room with you, and you think that I would be happy? You really have some nerve. You are the happy one. Everyone in the Capitol absolutely adores you, you have fulfilled your dream of winning the Hunger Games, and you have no reason to kill yourself." She thinks that I am happy? Katniss Everdeen does not know me.

I notice that my hands have clenched into fists. "What if I'm not happy either? You are not the only one here taking medicines to help you. The doctors decided to put me on some pills called Candrat. I guess it is supposed to help me control my temper." This was my plan all along, to somehow bring up Candrat, but it wasn't to bring it up like this.

"D…d…did you say Candrat?" she stutters. "I'm on Candrat too, but it's supposed to help my cut heal...So you say that they told you it was to help your temper?" I nod, knowing that she is comprehending what I had said. I hear her mumbling to herself, but I can't make out what she is saying. Suddenly, she looks up at me. "Does the Candrat make you have mood swings? Like sometimes you are really sad and then the next moment you are incredibly happy?"

"Yeah, I started to notice that a few days ago when I started to cry over two puppies fighting each other. Who cries over that?" That is a huge lie. The mood swings I have are from kind of happy to angry. Like one time I got so angry that I had to restrain myself from killing Doctor Dunbryll every time I saw him. "So if this medicine isn't for what either of our doctors said it was for, then we should just stop taking it," I suggest, already knowing that it wasn't for her heart and wasn't for my temper.

"No," she says, "I have a feeling that it won't be as easy as you make it sound."

"Well you aren't a psychic, so how do you know whether it will work or not?"

"I don't, I just have a feeling that it won't work...What if I stay on the Candrat and you stop taking it. We know that it obviously doesn't help your temper, but we don't know what it does to me other than that it gives me mood swings," she suggests with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Fine, Miss Smarty Pants let's all just listen to you and let you boss us all around. Who died and left you in charge?" Why am I getting so mad at her?

"Hey, you don't have to be the only one with the ideas around here. And anyways, I was just suggesting it. It's not like I am forcing you to stop taking the Candrat, I was just voicing my thoughts," she says with the equal amount of venom in her voice.

"You didn't make it sound like you were just voicing your thoughts," I say while taking a few steps closer to her bed. She shrinks down into her bed, pulling the covers over her head.

She changes her mind, and attempts to lift herself back up. Suddenly, something comes over me and I grab the metal stick holding the morphling. Right before I attack her Haymitch Abernathy walks in. "Stop," he yells, but it is too late. I have already hit Katniss in the head twice. What has gotten in to me? It is like I'm possessed. Two guards grab me and drag me out of the room. I don't fight back, knowing that I deserve whatever punishment they are going to give me.


	15. Chapter 15

**WARNING: This chapter has violence and lots of bloody, gross stuff. I just want to warn you guys before you read it and are like "why didn't she say that this chapter was so disturbing?" If you think that I should boost up the rating from T, personally I don't think that I do, please PM me. Thank you :)**

Katniss' POV

Slash, upper right leg. Needles, lower left leg. Gash, between eyes. Slit, all the way down left arm. I moan as I gain consciousness. Two people whisper frantically to each other before a familiar voice tells them to leave the room. Shot of morphling, enough to knock me out, upper right arm.

Cut, from right eye to my chin. A small slash, under my bottom lip. Cold metal breaking the skin where my stomach is pulls me out of the limbo between sleep and being awake. I tilt my head to the right and let out an involuntary moan as pain courses through my whole body. I open my eyes slightly and see that I am alone, lying on a hard table in an all white room, and I am wearing nothing but a sheet. A shiver runs down my spine as someone faraway screams. Another scream, louder and more agonizing then the last, causes me to jolt up in to a sitting position. I let out another moan of pain and search my body for the cause of it. I gasp as I see the horror that has been inflicted on me. My legs are a bloody mess with gashes and slices, some deep while others are thin. Tiny dots from needles shroud my left calf. There is an unfinished cut on my stomach, deep and wide. I bring my hands slowly to my face, my left arm aching as I do so. It is not smooth and soft anymore, but instead there are indents, slashes, and peeling skin from knife wounds. Resisting the pain, I bring my knees to my chest, wrap my arms around them, and rock back and forth. I bury my head in between my legs and close my eyes. Isn't there someone up there to help me, like Peeta or my father? Another sickening scream echoes through the room. Tears pour down my face as the person begs and pleads for the people to stop whatever torture they are inflicting. I open my eyes and see my bare neck. I start to panic as I realize that whoever brought me down here has taken my necklace that Peeta gave me. I close my eyes as more sobs rack my body as it sinks in that the last tie I have to Peeta is gone. The screaming stops, but I continue to cry. Did the person die? I hear a door open and then close, soft footsteps on the tile, a needle pushes into my skin, and then I black out.

Cato's POV

Whispers drag me out of my drug-induced sleep. I open one bleary eye and see a man in an all black jumpsuit. I open the other eye and see another man wearing a grey jumpsuit. My head jerks up as I realize that these men are not to be trusted. I try to raise my arm, but feel that it is tied down. I look down at my chest and see that both of my arms are tied behind my back around the chair that I am sitting in. The rope is also tied around my bare chest, not letting me stand up. I don't remember taking off my shirt. "Hello Cato," the man in black says in a low growl.

"Where's Katniss," I respond gruffly.

A door behind me opens and the smell of roses and something else, blood I think, hits me. A man with a white beard steps in front of me. My eyes widen as I realize who this man is. "Katniss is safe and sound," Snow says with a smile, "nobody will hurt her." He laughs evilly and then turns toward the two men. He motions with his hand for them to leave, and they exit the room. A second later they come back in carrying a tub full of water. They set it down in front of me and exit the room without saying a word. "Now Cato, I have heard from a variety of sources that you have been asking about the medicine Candrat. Is this true?" I shake my head no. "Why would you lie to me Cato? This isn't a game anymore, you have nothing to win, nothing to fight for."

"Yes I do!" I yell at him and then I spit in his face.

Snow laughs his evil laugh and reaches a hand out to my head. He grabs a fistful of my hair, and tugs my head back. Hard. "What do you know about Candrat boy?" Snow says, intensifying his gaze into my eyes.

"I swear I don't know anything!" I say, practically pleading. The door behind me opens yet again, but this time nobody comes around to face me.

"Liar!" Snow yells. He pushes my head down in to the tub full of water. I hold my breath and wait for him to pull me up. Instead, I feel a wave of shock travel through my body. I let out a scream into the water as the pain resonates throughout every nerve and bone in my system. The spot on my back where I was shocked tingles angrily, I will definitely have a burn there. Snow pulls me up out of the water, and I am suddenly glad for the swimming lessons my trainer back in District Two made me take. I wouldn't be able to hold my breath as long without them. "What did nice, little Nurse Fyodora tell you about Candrat?" Snow spits out at me.

"Nothing! I'm serious, she didn't tell me anything," I plead again. Snow pushes my head back in the tub and I stay with my head in the tub for a few seconds before I feel the shock yet again. This time it is on the back of my neck, and it makes my hair stand on end, but I don't scream.

Snow yanks my head out of the water. "Then what do you call that book she gave you," Snow asks, narrowing his eyes at me.

"It didn't tell me anything, and she just told me that Candrat was for my temper. I'm starting to believe that too," I say actually believing that and not just saying it.

"Sure you are," Snow says sarcastically. "Then why did you bring it up with Katniss when you visited her?"

"I was angry and when I am angry, I can't control what I say. Now Snow,"

"That's President Snow to you," he interrupts.

"Fine, now _President_ Snow," I sneer at him, "if the Candrat is supposed to control my temper, than why did I lose it with Katniss?"

Snow lets out a low growl before he slams my head into the water. The shock comes again, this time it is on my spine. The bones that make up my spine vibrate and feel like they are going to burst any second. This shock doesn't stop after a second or two like the other two did, but keeps on going. I start to not be able to hold my breath any longer, so I attempt to pull my head out of the water. But Snow's grip is too forceful, and I can barely lift my head. The corners of my vision begin to blur and go black from the combination of lack of air reaching my lungs and the electric shock on my spine. I hear the malicious laughter of President Snow, and then everything goes black.

Katniss' POV

My skin on my right arm feels like a cheese grater is shredding it. "Stop," a familiar voice commands, it is the same one from before that had told the people to leave the room. The shredding feeling ceases and I hear the closing of a door. I open my eyes, look at my right arm, and gasp. I bring my left hand up to the peeling skin and run my hand up and done my arm. The skin falls off onto the metal table that I am now strapped to. "Hello Katniss," the voice says again. I turn my head lethargically to the other side of the room for the source of the voice. I see a man in a suit with a pink rose in his lapel. He has a white beard and smells like roses and...blood? I swallow down the bile that rises into my throat. Why does he smell like blood? I vaguely remember him crowning me victor at the recap. It feels like years ago. That was the night that I got drunk with Haymitch. Now I remember that he told me about his dad in the Hunger Games. My hatred for the man in front of me grows even more.

"Hello Snow," I sneer at him.

"Please Katniss where are your manners? Do you not know to address important people politely?"

"I'm sorry, _President_ Snow, but having manners is the least of my worries right now," I spit back at him. "Now do you care to tell me where I am?"

Snow laughs evilly and says, "the Capitol, where you have been the past month. Don't worry, we told your family that you have been very busy with dinners and celebrations." My family won't believe that, Prim knows that I love her more than anything. Will my family even accept me knowing that I am a killer and that I let Cato win?

That reminds me, "Where is Cato?" I demand more than ask.

Snow laughs again, "He is down here also, but he has been unconscious for a few days now. I already visited him, before he blacked out."

"Why...why did he attack me?" I ask. It obviously has something to do with the Candrat, but I'm not mentioning anything about that.

"The medicine wasn't strong enough for him, he has more of a temper than we thought," Snow says, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly. For some reason I don't believe him, I don't think that I will ever trust this man. "But if you are worrying about him, he will be sent home once he becomes conscious again. We will try to send both of you home at the same time, but I don't know if that will be able to happen. Just so you know, you are still on the Candrat and you will stay on it while you are in District Twelve. If you refuse to take it, while lets just say, that your family will get into a little accident," Snow laughs and then turns and leaves my confinement.

**Hi everybody! I'm sorry that the last chapter took so long to write, but I was just caught up in summer. My birthday is in 25 days, so if we could get 100 reviews by then, you all will get a surprise present. :) Here's a secret for everyone: more reviews = chapters put up faster. Thank you everyone for your support. :)**


	16. Scars

Cato's POV

Thump, thump, thump, thump. The train screeches to a stop and my heartbeat picks up. Today is the day that I am going home; I will see my family for the first time in two months. So why am I dreading it? I feel someone's presence behind me, and I know without turning around who it is, Katniss Everdeen. I look behind me at her and she gives me a slight nod. She hasn't talked to anyone since our confinement, but I can hear her screaming in her sleep, telling the doctors in her nightmares to stop whatever torture they are inflicting on her. Every night I have to resist the urge to go in her room and comfort her, every night when we were locked up I had to resist the same urge too. Our cells had been next to each other and I would always hear her screaming for Peeta to help her. Somewhere deep down inside me I wished that it was my name that she was calling. I could hear the slash of a weapon against skin, but other than that I had no idea what the "doctors" were doing to her until today on the train. I was eating my lunch in the dining room by myself when Katniss walked in. She had scars all over her face and arms, and I couldn't imagine what other horrible scars she had on her legs hiding beneath her pants or on other parts of her body. The doctors in the Capitol had tried to erase the scars, but Katniss refused and put up a fight. In a weird way, I was proud of her. The only scars that I have are on my back where no one can see them. The only one that is visible is on my neck and people can easily think that that one is from the Hunger Games. I hadn't seen Katniss since that day I hit her on the head...I don't even know what came over me that day. It was like I was in the arena again, hurting for the rush of adrenaline that sweeps through me. I turn my head back towards the doors leading to the outside of the train just as the train screeches to a final stop. My escort Molly walks up behind me and puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Remember," she says in a sickly sweet Capitol voice, "head held high, big smiles, and just be happy. You are home." She gives me a tight hug, which I find awkward, and then walks away. I notice that Katniss is still standing in the same spot, her eyes searching my eyes. I give a slight smile before I turn back to the doors, waiting for them to open.

"Cato," a soft, exhausted, but raspy voice says. Katniss voice is almost unrecognizable from before her torture in the Capitol, where they cut her throat numerous times. I can tell from the countless scars on her neck. I swivel around to look at her and her grey Seam eyes meet mine. I am reminded of an all to familiar memory of the two of us on the Cornucopia. She pauses and I see the confusion and confliction in her eyes. After the long pause she says, "I'll see you on the Victory Tour," and then walks away. The traces of things unsaid still left in the air. I hear the train doors opening and I turn back around for the final time. The humid District Two air hits me, and a huge smile creeps it's way onto my face. I'm home.

"Cato! Cato! Cato!" the crowd chants. I walk off the platform and onto the cobbled road. The huge crowd engulfs me, and I search to find my family. I see the familiar face of my tall father above the rest of the crowd. I squeeze my way through, person after person, until I reach my family. My mother envelops me in a hug and I can feel her tears of happiness on my shirt. My brother, Cormack, smiles at me and pats me on the back. He is two years younger than me, which means he is fifteen.

My mother lets go of me and my father says, "Good job Cato, I'm proud of you, but you should consider yourself lucky m'boy. You should have killed that Everdeen girl right then and there." He shakes my hand and awkwardly pats my back. I freeze as the familiarity of his statement sinks in. "You should consider yourself lucky m'boy." Doctor Dunbryll said the exact same thing to me when I regained consciousness after nearly choking to death. I feel a small tap on my shoulder and swiftly turn around, my mind still thinking about the simple sentence. Katniss stands in front of me holding half of a gold crown.

She awkwardly glances at my parents and brother before returning her gaze back to me. "You forgot to wear this," she says in a slightly shaky voice. I have a sudden impulse to put my arms around her and tell her that she will be okay. But instead I give her a confused look and tilt my head slightly to the side. "We are supposed to wear our crowns when we reunite with our District. Molly asked me to bring this to you. She said that she can not risk getting her outfit messed up by trying to find you in this crowd." Katniss doesn't even smile or roll her eyes at my District escort, but instead her expression remains the same blank stare it has been since I, well technically she, killed Peeta. Maybe that was what bothered her so much, the fact the she killed Peeta, or maybe it was just that he was dead in general. Probably both. I sigh and take the half crown out of her hands and place it on the top of my head.

"See you later," I mutter, right before she disappears into the crowd.

"What's the matter with her?" my mother asks disgustedly. "She looks awful. And what are those scars all over her body from? They are certainly not from the games. All she did was kiss a dying boy all day." I suddenly have a great urge to punch my mother in the face, more specifically, in her mouth so she can't talk anymore."

"There is something about her..." Cormack says vaguely. I give him a quizzical look, and he returns it with the "I'll tell you later" look. I give a very slight nod and start walking with my family to my new house in the Victor's Village.

Katniss' POV

"_PEETA! PEETA! PLEASE! HELP ME! WHERE ARE YOU...where are you?" my voice fades as the assailant pauses to move to a new spot on my body to abuse. It is eerily quiet as I try to figure out what my assailant will do next, not knowing because of the blindfold tied around my eyes. The sound of rippling water breaks through the silence. It is followed by a noise that sounds like someone getting shocked. My heart literally aches as it dawns on me. It is Cato being shocked, Cato being tortured for no good reason at all, at least none that I know of. The sharp pain of a knife breaking the skin on my neck interrupts my thoughts, I can feel the blood squirting out and dripping down onto my exposed chest. A second knife starts cutting at my chin. I scream in pain as the first knife pierces through deeper into my body. The so-called doctor does not stop cutting into my neck like he normally does when he goes too far. I start to scream louder and eventually my screams become mangled and distorted from the deep gash. You would think that I would have died by now from loosing so much blood, but the "doctors" just pump it back into me. I vomit onto myself from the combination of pain in my neck and the thought of my blood being pumped back into me. I let out yet another disturbing scream of pain as the second knife cuts from my ear to my chin and then back up to my other ear. The first knife returns and starts to add to it's original cut on my neck._

I scream myself awake, my voice still sounding distorted, as it will be the rest of my life. I curl up into a ball and start sobbing as I realize that that wasn't just a nightmare. It was real life. This is, what feels like, the millionth time I have had nightmares that are just memories of my last month and a half in the Capitol. When they released me, I slept for eight days before I finally woke up, not having slept a wink while in confinement. I get up and put something presentable on, today was the day I was going to see my family again. I was finally coming home. So why was I dreading it? Why was I dreading the thought of seeing Prim and Gale again? I step out of my bedroom and walk to the dining room. There is food laid out for me on the table along with my half of the crown and a note in Haymitch's shaky handwriting:

Katniss,

I am sorry I am not able to be there when you get off the train, but I have a very important meeting.

Thank you for understanding,

Haymitch

I break down and cry, remembering that my last note from Haymitch had the necklace Peeta gave me. I still do not know where it is. Snow took it from me and I never got it back. I leave the dining room without eating any of the luscious food, but I do stuff some bread in my pocket to give to people in the crowd. I walk over to the doors leading outside just as the train screeches to a stop. I look around expecting to find Effie reminding me about my manners, but find no one. Just before the doors open I place the crown on my head and plaster on my best fake smile. My cheeks hurt from not smiling in two months. The doors open and the roar of the crowd hurts my ears. People are chanting my name and reaching out to touch me. All thoughts regarding Seam and Town culture thrown to the side as they mix together laughing and smiling for the first time in a very long time. I make my way through the crowd and find Prim and my mother. I run up and give Prim a huge hug actually smiling now that I am with my family, now that I am home. I hug my mother and she whispers things in my ear like, "I am so proud of you." She pulls away and I see Hazelle, Gale, Rory, Vick, and Posy standing behind my mother and Prim. I pick up Posy and give everyone big hugs, until I reach Gale. I awkwardly give him a one-armed side hug and I can feel my smile falter a little bit. I pull away and I can feel the crowd's eyes on me, looking at my body and wondering what happened. Some people look at me in disgust, grossed out from my scars and wounds that are still healing. Other people look at me proudly, like Greasy Sae and Darius, while others look on with concern. My mother, Prim, and I walk to our new home in the Victor's Village. As soon as I open the door, Prim gasps in amazement before she runs off to explore the house. My mother walks into the kitchen and runs her hands over the countertops, then she makes her way into the family room and I can't see her anymore. Personally, I don't like how big and extravagant the house is. I wish we could just live in our old house, we were perfectly happy in it. I see a phone on a small table near the stairway. I walk over and see a piece of paper. On it are the phone numbers of Haymitch, a doctor in the Capitol, and Cato Stone. I trace my finger over every number on the phone before picking up the receiver and calling the last number on the list.

**I know, I know, this chapter ends really abruptly, but I like how this chapter turned out. Remember, we have nineteen days to get thirty-two reviews. Wow, I just realized that that is a lot of reviews...maybe we don't need a hundred. But it would make me super happy :) especially on my birthday! Remember, more reviews = more chapters! Thank you for all of the great reviews!**


	17. Lies

**Cato's POV**

The kitchen is silent except for the noise of dishes clanking against each other and the running of water in the sink as my mother washes the dishes. I watch from a chair at the counter, my brother next to me reading a book, and my father is in his office working on "classified and important business papers." "What's the matter with that District Twelve girl?" my mother asks breaking the silence.

"What do you mean?" I say distractedly, focusing on the growing amount of bubbles in the sink.

"Where did she get all of those scars? She didn't have them at the crowning of the victors or at the interviews with the victors. And what is up with her voice? Did her voice box get damaged or something from having that Peeta bread's, or whatever his name is, tongue down her throat the whole games?"

"She got really upset when the Capitol erased her scars from the Hunger Games, so they undid the process and now she has the scars back," I recite the lie that the Capitol "doctors" told me and Katniss to tell everyone. My focus is still on the bubbles that are beginning to overflow onto the counter next to the sink.

"But what about her voice? I mean, it is so...gross...now," my mother says disgustedly. I am not surprised my mother is acting like this. She was born mean, arrogant, and judgmental; just like so many of the population in District Two.

"It is from the damn mines that blew up our friggin' food supplies," I say, annoyed at the "doctors" for making me say these lies. It is not the lying I am annoyed about, lying to my mother is easy I have done it my whole life; it is the fact that the Capitol is forcing me to say this. They are forcing Katniss and me to lie to our own family to cover up the torture they inflicted on us.

"Watch your language mister!" she commands pointing a spoon at me that she was drying.

"Ooh, I'm so scared. What are you going to do? Kill me with that spoon?" I say sarcastically while getting up from my chair to leave to my new room. "Oh and by the way, there is a dishwasher right there." I point to a square next to the sink.

Cormack snickers right when I leave the kitchen. "Watch it!" my mother says giving my brother one of her evil death glares. I smile to myself, and take the stairs two at a time to get to my bedroom. On my way there, I pass my father's study and I hear the phone ring.

"Hello?" my father says in a deep, business-like voice he only uses when he talks to important people and when he is on the phone. I pick up the hallway phone to see who is calling.

"Hi," a small, shaky voice that is from a girl says from the other end of the line.

"May I ask who this is?" my father says in a polite voice.

"It's..." there is a pause and you can hear the girl take a deep breath to steady her shaky tone, "Katniss Everdeen. I was wondering if Cato was there?"

"Yes, he is hold on a second Katniss," my father sneers at her, not even disguising his disgust in her. I gently put down the phone and start walking to my bedroom, acting like I didn't hear anything. "Cato!" I turn around and my father has his head poking out of the doorway to his office. "There is a call for you." I nod and he goes back into his office and closes the door.

I pickup the hallway phone and answer, "hello?"

"Cato? It's Katniss. I just wanted to see if...you were able to find your new house in the Victor's Village," Katniss says.

I let out a chuckle, a noise that I haven't heard in a long, long time. "Yeah, I guess I did find it since I am talking to you now."

"I guess you did..." she replies in a monotone.

After an awkward pause I ask, "so you found your new house okay too?"

"Yes...I did," Katniss replies. In the background you can hear her little sister, Primrose, announce excitedly, "Katniss! I have my own room, we don't have to share a bed anymore!" Katniss sighs and tries to muffle the receiver to talk to Primrose. "Aren't we lucky Prim?" she says attempting to sound excited.

"Your sister must be happy that you are home," I say.

"Yeah, she is," Katniss says vaguely, "I promised her that I would win for her...and I have..."

"Aren't you at least a little happy you won?" I ask.

"You know how I feel Cato," Katniss says tiredly. I do know how she feels, out of experience. She doesn't want to be here, alive and well. She is depressed and no one is doing anything about it except for her, and that ended with her in a hospital room. I can hear the open and close of a door in the background accompanied by a voice of an excited little girl. "I got to go Cato, the Hawthornes are here for dinner...they're my cousins. Bye," and then she hangs up.

"Bye..." I say to the vacant line. I put down the phone and continue walking to my room. Just as I am about to enter it, my dad comes out of his office.

"Cato!" I turn around at the sound of my name. "What did that girl want?" my father asks, saying girl disgustedly.

"She was only wondering if I made it to my new house here," I respond tiredly. My father nods slightly before heading down the stairs. I open the door to my room, walk in, and close the door behind me. I look around at my perfectly made bed, clean desk, empty closet, and white walls. I feel like I am in a prison cell and my only way out is the small window across from the door. I walk over to it and open it all the way. I have a perfect view of nothing, just a concrete wall of the building behind my new house. Maybe the window isn't the best way for my escape. I sigh and turn away from the window and collapse onto my bed. I am seriously worried about Katniss now. I mean, there is no one in District Twelve to watch her carefully other than Haymitch. And he will probably be drunk all of the time. What if she decides to kill herself and this time she is successful? What if she goes out to the woods to hunt and never comes back? Does she still have to take the Candrat also? My mind does not stop all night as I worry about everything from the past two months. Another sleepless night, just like all of the other ones from the last two months.

**Katniss' POV**

I put down the phone, confused on why I chickened out again on asking him if he was okay, if he wanted to talk. I turn around to see a smiling Posy Hawthorne. "Katniss!" she squeals and runs up and hugs me.

"Hi Posy," I say as excitedly as I can while hugging her back. I look past her to see Vick, Rory, and Hazelle standing in the hall staring in awe at my new house, but there is no Gale. "Hi you guys," I say to the three other Hawthornes.

"Oh Katniss, we are so excited that you won," Hazelle says while scooping up Posy into her arms and giving me a hug. "I am sorry that Gale isn't here, but he is starting in the mines soon and he wants to...get out...as much as possible." I know what she means, but can not say in this house that is probably bugged by the Capitol. He is out hunting. Seven year old, Vick, comes up to me and runs his pointer finger along one of the scars on my right arm.

"What is this from?" he asks curiously. "Don't all of the victors get their scars erased?"

I nod and lie, "yes we do, but I didn't want to have my scars erased. I feel like the scars are a reminder of all the hard work I had to do to become a victor. So I don't want all of my hard work to disappear. Do you get what I am saying?" He nods and I let out a breath, I am a terrible liar, so I didn't know whether people would believe me when I told them the lie that the "doctors" are making me and Cato tell everyone. Well I guess that the part about me not wanting to have my scars erased is true, but not the ones from the Games. I don't want to have my scars from my imprisonment erased because I want to be reminded of the hell I am living in. That I should never be happy again, no matter what happens.

"Well Katniss, we are all very excited that you won the Hunger Games and we are very proud of you. But we have to be getting back home. It is almost Posy and Vick's bedtime," Hazelle says over a whining Vick.

"Is it okay if I walk back with you guys?" I ask. "There are a few things that I want to retrieve from our old house."

"Of course, honey." Hazelle opens the door and Rory walks out first, followed by Vick, and then Hazelle carrying a very sleepy Posy. We walk to the Seam, and separate once we reach the Hawthorne's house. We say our goodbyes and then I make my way back to my old house. I reach the worn house in mere minutes. I cautiously walk up the stairs to the door that is hanging from it's hinges. _Katniss?_ I whip around to find no one behind me. I turn back to the door, take a deep breath to calm myself, and open it carefully. _Katniss?_ I look around again and find myself alone. "Hello?" I ask, but am returned with nothing but an eerie silence. I shake it off and continue to the bathroom. I pick up my father's razor and turn it over in my hands. The layers of coal dust that has gathered on it over the last four years rubs off onto my fingers. I frown, remembering how much my father hated all of the coal dust around here. I pick up his little mirror and look at my reflection. Prim has continued to clean the glass, knowing that dad always would wash the mirror everyday. I stare into my eyes. _Katniss? _the voice asks again. I turn the mirror so that I can see behind me, but again no one is there. I set the mirror down, deciding against bringing it to the house in the Victor's Village. Dad wouldn't have liked it there, so I shouldn't bring his mirror there or his razor. I set down his razor next to the mirror back on the edge of the sink and exit the bathroom. I walk into the bedroom that mother, Prim, and I shared. I make my way over to the small bedside table next to the bed that was my mother's. I pick up a picture that I have never noticed before, and rub off the coal dust with the corner of my shirt. A younger version of my mother and father smiling, looking truly happy and in love looks up at me. I put it in my bag and walk over to the closet. I pick up my father's hunting jacket and grab my boots. I shrug on the jacket and squeeze my feet into the small boots. _Katniss_, I hear again. I look up from tying my shoelaces. "Who's there?" I ask while standing up. The only response is an all too familiar hiss. I look down and see Prim's awful cat Buttercup. "I will be back for you," I tell the cat in the most threatening voice I can muster, which must not be very threatening. I walk out of the house, game bag slung around my shoulder, hunting jacket and boots on. I head towards the meadow in front of the fence surrounding the woods. I listen for the low hum of electricity, and when hear nothing but silence, slink under the fence. I walk to the hollow log and take out my bow and arrows. I put down my game bag and sling the sheath of arrows around my shoulder. I walk a few more miles before I find a deer. It freezes as it senses me and I train my bow and arrow on it. My hands start shaking, and I know that I won't to be able to get a good, clean hit at the deer. It runs away just as I steady my hands. "Shoot!" I yell angrily. What is wrong with me? I throw my bow, and hear it land in branches a good distance away. I collapse onto the ground and cover my ears as Gale's eager voice fills my mind. "_Katniss, it's just hunting. You're the best hunter I know...You know how to kill...How different can it be, really?...Hey Catnip...Stealing's punishable by death or hadn't you heard?...Up you go Catnip..._" I stand up quickly as I hear my name again. "Who's there?" I scream. _Katniss_..."Show yourself!" I yell, my voice shaking. Malicious laughter rings through my ears that I recognize to belong to only one man, President Snow. "Stop!" I scream falling to the ground and covering my ears. The laughter continues just as loud as before. I close my eyes as tears start to pour out. _Katniss, why are you hiding? You're not afraid of me are you?_ President Snow sneers. "Go away!" I scream, "Go away! Go back to the Capitol!" The last thing I hear before I black out is Snow's evil laughter.

**Hi everybody! I just wanted to say thank you for all of the great reviews I have gotten. And I am surprised that so many Guests are suddenly reviewing. Is there a reason for that, or am I just being paranoid? Ok, so just nineteen more reviews in twelve days, I have more hope now! And if you are wondering, yes Katniss is going crazy.**

**One Guest asked: Why did Katniss get tortured?**

**Answer: You will find out soon, but a hint is that it has something to do with the Candrat medicine.**


	18. Dear

**Katniss' POV**

_Katniss. Katniss, wake up. Prim is worried about you. Katniss._ "I'm up!" I yell, my voice shaking with fear. "Will you shut up now, President Snow?" He laughs evilly, _whatever you want my dear_, and then his laughter fades away. I open my eyes, and see that I am on the forest floor. What? How did I get out here? Oh, now I remember, I went hunting last night. At least I think it was last night. I uncurl my legs from the ball I am lying in, and shakily stand up. I turn in a circle as I take in my surroundings. There is a sheath of arrows next to me, but other than that, there are only trees. I pick up the sheath of arrows and sling it over my right shoulder. I vaguely remember throwing my bow, so I start walking around to try and find it. _It's over here Katniss,_ President Snow's voice taunts. "Where?" I ask, my voice shaking again. _By the tree_. "There are a lot of trees here", I say angrily. _Don't you see it? It is right here_. "Where?" I say annoyed. _Right here_. "Okay, you know what? Just shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" _Whatever you want my dear_, he says in a soothing voice. "And don't call me 'dear,'" I yell annoyed and upset. I decide to walk ten feet from where I am and walk in a circle to try and find the bow. If I threw it with a lot of force, than I will have to walk about twenty feet and look for it. After walking around in circles for thirty minutes, I decide to give up and walk back home. On my way back to the hollowed out log, I stop and take a rest to catch my breath. I look up at the sky just as a bird flies over me, a bluebird I think. My father once told me a story about how he had found a bluebird's nest in the woods when he was a kid. He had brought home the eggs and wanted to keep them until they hatched. Instead his mother had fried them and had him and his siblings eat the eggs for breakfast. He said that he didn't find out that he ate the bluebird's eggs until later that day. I look back down at my feet and see a squirrel. I nudge it with the tip of my boot. _It's dead Katniss, just like all of the children you killed in the Hunger Games._ "You have killed more than me. You kill children every year!" I yell, angry at Snow for bringing up the Hunger Games.

"Katniss?" I whip around searching for the source of the voice. "Katniss?" the person asks cautiously.

"Show yourself!" I command.

"I am right here," the voice says to the right of me. I turn and see a man that I recognize sitting on a rock. Who would be out here on the woods? I start backing away, afraid that the person will hurt me or take me back to the Capitol. "Katniss it's me, Gale," the man says.

"I don't believe you," I say, narrowing my eyes at the man in front of me.

"It really is me. Who else would be out here in the woods?"

"I don't know, a Capitol person?" I sneer at him.

"Ha! A Capitol person? You think that I am from the Capitol? Do I look like I could be from the Capitol? Am I dressed like it?" He stands up and starts walking towards me. I shrink back; maybe he is from the Capitol. Maybe he is someone pretending to be Gale. Or maybe he is all in my head. He rests both of his hands on my shoulders, and I flinch at the touch. I look down at my hunting boots and try to focus on how much they hurt my toes. "Katniss, look at me," Gale says pleadingly. I lift my head up and glare at him. "See? I am Gale Hawthorne. Do you believe me now?" I nod slightly at him. "Where have you been? We have been looking all over for you." I shrug and look back to the ground. Gale takes his hands off of my shoulders and walks back to the rock he was sitting on. He sighs as he says, "Prim was on the verge of tears. She was saying that you had died and was never coming back."

I look up at him and take a step closer to the rock. "I know," I say softly, "President Snow told me how Prim was worried."

"Excuse me, but President Snow isn't here Katniss," Gale says in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Yes he is. He has been following me around. He is probably listening to our conversation right now."

"Um, sure Katniss. Yeah, President Snow is here right now and not killing us for being in the woods," Gale says his voice dripping with sarcasm. My eyes go wide as he says killing.

"Oh no Gale, you are wrong. Snow doesn't enjoy just killing people. He likes to torture them, watch them attempt to stay strong, and then break and crumble. He enjoys other people's pain." _How did you know? Aren't you so smart? _"Didn't I say shut up?" I ask Snow angrily. _Okay, okay_, he says, _I will be quiet_. "Thank you," I say exasperated. I look up, remembering that Gale is still here. He is looking at me with pity and sadness and a hint of anger. "Did you hear him? Did you hear Snow? He was talking to me. You had to have heard him."

"Yes Katniss, I heard him. But I think that we should go tell our families that...I found you and that you are safe. Oh, and next time, don't just leave your hunting bag lying around. That is called being careless." I roll my eyes, but follow him back to the gate. On the way, I put the sheath of arrows back in the log and pick up my hunting bag.

When we get to the meadow I remember about Buttercup. "Gale, we need to stop at my old house and get Buttercup."

"Don't worry about it. I will get him later and bring him to Prim. For now we just need to get you home." I nod and continue to follow him to the Victor's Village. When we get there I walk up to my house and open the door. "I found her!" Gale exclaims.

I hear feet running down the hallway and I see that they belong to Prim and my mother. Prim runs up and hugs me. "Katniss! I was so worried about you!" Prim says with tears streaming down her face. "I thought that I lost you. Don't ever do that again!"

I laugh, "I promise Prim." _I wouldn't be so sure about that_, President Snow sneers. I roll my eyes at him.

"Thank you Gale," my mother says. "Where did you find her?"

"In the woods, just like where she said she was going. She must have fallen asleep and lost track of time," Gale responds. "Uh, Mrs. Everdeen? Can I talk to you about something...in private?"

"Sure Gale," mother answers with a glance towards me. "Prim? Please go to bed right now, thank you."

The pair of them head into the kitchen while Prim gives me a last hug before she heads upstairs. "Goodnight Prim," I say to her retreating figure.

Once she is up the stairs I quickly walk over to the kitchen door and put my ear against it. I can hear Gale talking in a hushed whisper, "When I found her she was talking to herself saying, 'you have killed more than me. You kill children every year.' And then later she said that President Snow had told her that Prim was worried. And she started talking to herself and then she asked me if I had heard Snow talking. I just agreed with her, but I didn't hear anything." I snort and roll my eyes, sure he didn't hear anything. He is probably just making it up to show that I am crazy. He is probably jealous of me. My mother gasps and Gale pleads, "Please just watch over her. I won't be able to because I will be working in the mines starting this week, and I don't want her to...you know...commit suicide. I can see that she is depressed, and I just don't want her to take the same route that Haymitch did."

"I will," mother says, "don't you worry." I hear them start to make their way over to the door, so I back away and walk up the stairs. The kitchen door opens and mother says, "Sweet dreams Katniss." I nod slightly and make my way back up the stairs, knowing that I will never have sweet dreams.

Here is another chapter! Thank you so much for all of the great reviews. I don't know how much I can thank everyone. Just ten more reviews in ten days! Woohoo! So when I was editing this after I wrote it, I read the part where Katniss says, "Okay, you know what? Just shut up!" to "President Snow" and it said 'just shit up' and I was like "...o.O what?" but it made me laugh haha. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	19. Gone

_**Cato's POV**_

_Splash! The water surrounds my head for the billionth time, but this time I don't just hear Snow's evil laughter. There is someone screaming, but in the water it sounds so far away and distorted. Their screams are pain filled and mournful. I want to help them, reach out to them, kill whoever is inflicting pain on them. The shock breaks my thoughts as it hits my lower back. I haven't yelled out since the first shock. I have become accustomed to the now familiar wave of pain that ripples through my body with every shock. The pain and shock ceases and I am left with a mark on my back aching for a few seconds. My head is pulled out of the water, and the screams sound normal, if those screams can even sound normal. Whoever is screaming is a girl, maybe even Katniss, and they sound a lot closer than it seemed in the water. Maybe the person is in the cell next to me. I take a deep breath, ready for the next shove to my head that forces me under the water, but a knock at the door delays Snow. "Come in," he says._

_A man pokes his head in and says, "President Snow, sir, it is about Ms. Everdeen."_

"_You can talk to me about whatever it is in here," Snow replies gracefully._

_The man slides in through the crack between the open door and wall and shuts the door behind him. "Well," he starts out, "she has been losing too much blood. We don't know what to do."_

"_Well we can't have her die. Correct?" The man nods in response. "What if you pumped her blood back into her? It has been going down the drain in the floor right?" I gulp and the man nods again._

"_Very well sir. If that is what you want." he smiles, bows, and then exits the room. Snow pushes my head into the water forcefully, like nobody even interrupted him from his torture._

_I hear the girl's voice again. This time she is begging and pleading with someone. "No! Please no! Please?" her voice fades out and is replaced by her bloodcurdling screams. I get goosebumps just as the shock resonates throughout my body. My head is yanked up and I gasp for air._

"_I think that we are done for the day Mr. Stone. I will be back bright and early tomorrow morning. If you decide to tell me what you know about Candrat tomorrow, then I will stop making these visits. It's your decision," Snow says with a shrug and exits the room._

_I look around my now silent cell, and realize that I will get no sleep because I am tied up in a chair. What will my parents think when I return home and they see me malnourished? Or maybe they won't even notice and think that it is just from the Games. The screams once again pierce through my skull and echo around the cell. My notions are proved correct as the girl screams. "Peeta! Peeta! Help me! Where are you? Where are you?" she yells, her voice growing quieter by the end. An eerie silence envelops the confinement, and for a split second I am terrified that Katniss has died._

"_Katniss?" I yell out, "Katniss are you there?"_

"_Peeta..." she responds. I sigh and close my eyes, but all I see behind my eyelids are visions of the snakelike eyes belonging to President Snow. "Peeta! Where did you go? You need to save me!"_

_What are they doing to her that makes her sound like this? Whatever the "doctors" are doing has broken her. Katniss might not admit it, but she is broken. "Katniss, it is okay. It is I, Cato Stone. Please...calm down."_

"_I can't! I just can't!" and then she starts screaming again._

"_Katniss please! Stay with me please! Don't lose yourself!" I beg, I don't want to lose her. I don't want to lose the girl on fire._

"Cato! Wake up! Cato!" I open my eyes slowly and see my father staring at me in confusion. "There is someone on the telephone for you."

He hands me the receiver and I grab it from him. He leaves the room, and I throw my sheets off of me. I am sweating from my too real nightmare. "Hello?" I ask.

"Cato, listen to me carefully okay?" I recognize the voice as Haymitch's. He keeps talking, not waiting for me to answer, "I want you to be frank with your answer. Do you hear President Snow's voice in your head?"

"Excuse me? No, why would I?" I respond in disbelief.

"Well, Katniss has been talking to herself and claims that she is talking to President Snow." I sigh and he continues, "I had the idea that maybe the Capitol had inserted a chip into both of your minds that allowed President Snow to talk to you, but I don't think that that is the case."

"No," I respond after a long pause. I let it sink in that I have truly lost her. The girl on fire has slipped from the grips of sanity, she is officially broken. "As much as I hate to admit it Haymitch, I think that she is just...broken. Crazy. Insane. Whatever you want to call it." Suddenly I become angry, "I hope that you stay sober. She needs you right now. Someone that can mentor her back to stability. I heard her talking in her sleep the other night about someone stealing a necklace. Maybe you could help her by getting that back. All I want you to do Haymitch, is help her. Don't let her go through this alone." I hang up before Haymitch can even respond. I put the phone down on my bedside table and sigh. I close my eyes and rub my temples. I can feel tears swelling in my eyes, but I blink them away. I can't be weak now. I have to be strong...for Katniss, for Clove, for my District. I will never be weak. I get up from my bed and walk over to the mirror in the bathroom that is attached to my room. I turn around and look at the scars on my back. They aren't as bad as Katniss', but if someone with a weak heart saw the scars, they would faint. I sigh and walk into my room. I grab a shirt and throw it on before walking downstairs into the kitchen. Already there are both of my parents. My father is sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee and nibbling on some toast and my mother is putting away dishes from the dishwasher.

"Hungry dear?" my mother asks me.

"Eh, not really," I respond unenthusiastically. I move to the table and sit down across from my father.

"How did you sleep?" he asks looking me in the eyes.

"Good," I respond simply, avoiding his gaze and focusing on the countdown on the microwave.

"Who was on the phone?" my mother asks.

"Haymitch," I reply.

"Yeah? And what did the old drunk want?" my mother asks viciously.

"He was just asking me some questions," I respond vaguely.

"Son," my father says, "you were saying stuff in your sleep. We could hear you from down the hall. You were talking to Katniss..."

"Paul," my mother interrupts him, "it is none of our business." So now my mother decides not to be nosy?

"Janet, it is our business. He is our son and we care about him. Now Cato, what did you mean by not wanting to lose her." I feel like my own father is interrogating me.

"I need some air," I mumble and stand up and make my way to the door.

"Cato wait," my mother begs.

"Cato Victor Stone! Get back here right now! We are talking to you!" my father yells from the kitchen.

"Just shut up! Okay? Can you two do that for once?" and then I walk out of the house and slam the door behind me. The humid District Two air fills my lungs as soon as I walk outside. The feeling is comforting. I haven't been home in a long, long time, too long. I look around the Victor's Village and see a few different paths to take. I decide to take the path that seems to lead to town. District Two is one of the larger districts, but not as big as District Eleven. The path opens up to the main road in town. A car passes as I try to make out what part of town I am in. They honk at me and wave and all I do is force a painful smile onto my face that as soon is the car is gone, is wiped right off of my face. I turn right and head towards the grocery store. Everyone that I pass congratulates me or stops me to take a picture. The old me would have loved all of this attention, but Katniss was right. The games do change people. I quickly run into the grocery store and pay for a water bottle. Then I walk down to the next corner, and enter the building on the right.

"Ah, Cato. I was wondering when you would show up," Ted, the man behind the counter says. I smile genuinely and say hi. "Do you want any special equipment or just what we have out?"

"I think that what is there will be fine. All I want to do is train with the swords and maybe some knives, but I know that I will never be as good at knife throwing as Clove."

Ted laughs and says, "no one will be as good as Clove, bless her soul. Well if you want you can teach a group of thirteen year olds the art of swords. The class doesn't start until four more days, so you have up until then to decide."

"Great, I'll think about it," I say while signing my name on the sign up sheet. I quickly flip back to two months ago when Clove and I last came here together. It was the day before the Reaping and we wanted to train as much as we could before we volunteered. We had gotten into a fight that night. We had been friends since I was eight and she was six, and I told her that she shouldn't volunteer. She got mad at me, and we didn't talk again until training for the Games when we finally realized that our days were limited. I wave at Ted before I head into the gym. I smile as I take in the view of my favorite place in all of District Two. I go directly towards the swords and pick up the longest, sharpest one. I finger it gingerly as I look at the dummies set up for people to practice on. I take a deep breath as I relax myself and let myself go into my own world. I get a running start as I charge at the first dummy with my sword at the ready. As I pass by it I slice it's head off. I charge at the next one and stab it through the heart. I yank my sword out and run at the third dummy. I chop it in half and keep running. While running I do a somersault and come up in front of the fourth and final dummy. I chop of it's legs and stand up. I next slice off it's arms and head. Then I go for the final blow: the heart. I kick the dummy to the floor and bring the sword over my head. I let out a grunt as I bring down the sword with all my might and stab the dummy through the heart. I look up around me, remembering that I am not by myself and that there are actually other people in the training facility. There is a crowd of people around me, staring in awe at the mess I have made. I look at each of the mutilated dummies, shrug, and keep the sword in the fourth dummy's heart and head over towards the knife throwing station. I scoop up six knives in my left hand and grab another with my right. I focus the one at the target and throw it. Then the next one, and the next one, and the next. After I go through all of them, I examine my work. The first five knives are dead center of the target, but the last two are slightly off. I know I can make those two directly on center, but I choose not to. It would feel strange. I am no Clove who never misses; I am Cato who "has room for improvement" as she used to say. I smile sadly at the knives before I turn around. The crowd has followed me over to this station and look at me like I am the greatest thing in all of Panem. I scowl and shove my way through the people to try and get to the archery station. It's not like I don't know how to use a bow and arrow, because I do, it's just that it was never my strong point. I glide my fingers over the bow as I remember Katniss with her arrow trained on my heart. I still don't get why she didn't shoot. I guess it doesn't matter now that she is gone. I pick up the bow and train an arrow on the target. I pull back and release. Surprisingly, the arrow lands only a few inches away from the dead center of the target. I sigh and lay the bow back down on the table. I make my way back to the entryway of the training facility and say goodbye to Ted. I walk back to the Victor's Village and open the door to my new home. "I'm back!" I shout.

My mother appears in front of me with a strained smile on her face. "You have a visitor, Cato." She leads me into the study, and my jaw drops as I see who it is sitting in the chair.

**Ooh, who is the visitor? Cliffhanger! Wow! Ok, so I expected 100 reviews by July 21, but I have 104 reviews now! You guys are all so amazing! You will still get a special present on my birthday though, don't worry. And I would like to especially thank the Guest reviewer, Venia, who gave great input on a majority of the chapters. Again, thank you so much for all of your support!**


	20. Better On Your Own

**Cato's POV**

_Previously on 'Katniss and Cato': My mother appears in front of me with a strained smile on her face. "You have a visitor, Cato." She leads me into the study, and my jaw drops as I see who it is sitting in the chair._ "Be polite," my mother whispers to me through clenched teeth.

"Hello Cato," the man says. He stands up and extends his hand to shake hands with me.

I take his hand, shake it, and quickly bring my arm back down to my side. "What are you doing here?" I growl at him.

"I just thought that I would personally give you your Candrat medicine."

"Excuse me, but Cato can you introduce me?" my mother asks politely, smiling at the man.

"This is Doctor Dunbryll. He was my doctor after the Games," I snarl.

She nods before saying, "I will leave you two to chat. Holler if you need anything." And then she leaves the room.

"Sit down please Cato," Doctor Dunbryll says, motioning towards the chair across from his.

"This is my house, I can do whatever I want," I snap at him.

He nods and sits down in the leather armchair that my father usually sits in. "Well I was just here to give you your medicine." He hands me two pills of Candrat and a cup of water. I put the pills in my mouth and take a gulp of water. I smoothly spit the pills into the cup before swallowing the water. I walk over to the trashcan as Doctor Dunbryll says, "How is Katniss holding up? I sent somebody to deliver her medicine to her while I was here with you."

"How would I know?" I ask as I drop the cup containing the pills into the trash. I look up at the doctor and lie, "and why would I care? Why should I worry about her?"

He shrugs, "I don't know. You _have_ talked to her since the hospital right?"

"A little," I respond simply. He sits there for a while, contemplating something before I say, "I think that you should be leaving now. I don't want unwanted people in my house, especially not people from the Capitol." Why did I just say that? It just slipped from my mouth. Great, now I am even more disliked by Doctor Dunbryll, and he will most likely tell Snow too. Next I will be getting a visit from President Snow himself. I roll my eyes at the thought.

"Fine. I will leave you, but tomorrow one of my assistants will be here to give you your dose of Candrat for the day." He stands up and heads towards the door.

"Wait," I call out before he exits. "Did you say that somebody was giving Katniss some medicine?"

"Yes, one of my assistants, I believe, is giving her Candrat, the same medicine as you," Doctor Dunbryll replies.

"But why? Why is she using Candrat?" I ask narrowing my eyes at him.

"I don't understand why I have to tell you this so many times. The medicine is for her depression. This is like the tenth time I have had to tell you this. What don't you understand about that?" he responds annoyed.

"I forget, okay? Now will you please just leave? I don't want to have to see you." I point to the door and he exits the room. I plop down in the chair across from the one Doctor Dunbryll was just sitting in, and let out a long sigh. I cross my arms over my chest and close my eyes. The last thing I hear before falling asleep is the television switching on and the sound of a reporter's voice.

**Katniss' POV**

...The same day...

"Katniss, are you listening to me?"

"What were you saying Haymitch?" I respond tiredly.

"I was asking you what President Snow says when he talks to you?" Haymitch asks annoyed.

"Can't you guys hear him? I thought everyone could."

"No, I'm sorry, but you are the only one who can," Haymitch says.

I refocus my gaze from the blank television to the window looking out over the Victor's Village. "Why do you want to know what he says?" I snap at Haymitch. Out of the corner of my eye I see Haymitch and my mother give each other a look. Silence fills the air, and a loud boom of thunder and a crack of lightning soon interrupt it. I shudder as the rain starts to pour and it swiftly slides down the window. I look down at my lap where my hands are folded, and sigh. _It's okay, Katniss. Nobody needs to know what we discuss._ I nod slightly and look back at Haymitch, too ashamed to even look at my own mother.

"I spoke to Cato earlier today," Haymitch says, "he said that he does not hear President Snow, but he does believe that you hear him." I nod and focus my eyes back on the blank television.

All of a sudden the television comes to life. On screen there is a Capitol reporter sitting at a desk in a studio. "I have a very important announcement to make," she says, "President Snow has proclaimed that there will be no Victory Tour. I repeat, the victors Katniss Everdeen and Cato Stone will not be visiting each district on the Victory Tour. So far we do not know the reason President Snow has decided to cancel the tour, but we will hope that the President tells us why soon." And then the television shuts down. Haymitch quickly stands up and leaves, mumbling something about making phone calls.

Mother removes herself from the chair and sits down next to me on the couch. I continue to stare at the empty television, pretending not to notice the woman sitting beside me. She puts an arm around me, but I don't lean into her. "Katniss, sweetie, everything is going to be okay," she says soothingly while running her other hand through my hair that is not in it's usual braid.

"What's it like?" I ask. "What's it like to have someone crazy as your daughter?" She brings her hand up to my chin and attempts to turn my face so that she can look me in the eyes, but I refuse and push against her hand.

She sighs, and just when she is about to respond, the doorbell rings. My mother stands up, and I watch her retreating figure through her reflection in the glass of the television. Just as she is about to leave the room she looks back at me for a split second before heading towards the door. _I'm close, Katniss, really close._ "Excuse me, but how are you close? What are you close to?" I ask Snow confused.

"Katniss?" my mother asks hesitantly. I turn around and look to see who the visitor is. "It's for you." She steps aside to reveal President Snow. My eyes widen and my breathing quickens as I begin to panic. What if he is here to take me away and torture me some more? I start to not be able breath correctly, and gasp for breaths. "Katniss? Are you okay?" my mother asks.

"She will be fine. I'm sorry Mrs. Everdeen, but will you excuse us please? I have some things that I would like to discuss with Katniss," Snow says politely.

"Of course, if you need anything please tell me." And then she leaves the study, closing the door behind her.

I stand up and open a window, poking my head out into the rain. I find my breath, and bring my head back into the house. "You are lucky that you aren't like Mr. Cato Stone," Snow says chuckling a little bit, "he is scared of lightning...and water"

"I can't imagine why," I say under my breath. It is weird hearing Cato be afraid of something. I always have thought of him as tough, confident, and unbreakable. "Why are you here?" I demand more than ask.

"Well for a couple of reasons," he says while sitting down in an armchair. "One is that I have something to give you. I believe that Peeta gave it to you as a present for when you won the Hunger Games. Haymitch told me to return it to you so you could have something to remember Mr. Mellark." He pulls out a gold necklace out of a pocket inside his suit coat jacket. I walk over to the chair that Snow is sitting in and extend my arm so that he can give me the necklace. President Snow drops the necklace into my hand and I close my fingers into a fist, trapping the necklace into my hand. "I am also supposed to give you your medicine, remember Candrat?" I nod as the memory of Snow telling me that I will have to take it when I return home, and if I don't, my family will be killed. He hands me two pills and a cup of water. I take them both, and pop the pills into my mouth, following them with a drink of water. I swallow just as Snow starts to talk again, "I am also here in District Twelve to talk to you about the Victory Tour. As you have heard, it has been cancelled. You see, when we televised you returning home from the Capitol, people saw your scars and wondered what they were from. I told them how you refused to let us erase your scars from the Games, but they didn't believe us. District Nine has been put under strict guard for reasons only a few know. What I am trying to say is that you, Katniss Everdeen, has started a, what I like to call, uprising."

I stare at the snake-like man in disbelief. I started an uprising? How is that my fault? "I'm sorry, but I don't understand. Didn't you, the Capitol, give me those scars? So why is it my fault that there is an uprising? I didn't ask for those scars to be put on my body so the whole country could go into rebellion. I didn't decide to be tortured so that I could start a revolution."

"I'm sorry Katniss, but I must be going now. I have much more important business to tend to back in the Capitol." Then he stands up and leaves.

_Great job Katniss. You have started a rebellion just by being tortured. I hope you're happy now._ "I'm not okay? I'm not happy, and it isn't my fault. It's the Capitol's, the "doctors," and Snow's fault, not mine!"

My brain and vision become foggy and I feel dizzy and lightheaded. I dig my fingernails into the palm of my hands to try and stay conscious. "Katniss?" someone asks. They sound so far away and like they're in a bubble, they're voice is so distorted. "Katniss are you okay?" they ask again and this time I recognize that it is a boy speaking.

"Peeta?" I cry out, "Is that you?" Whenever I am in pain now, every male voice sounds like Peeta's.

"No, it's me, Gale," the voice responds desperately. If it is Gale, how did he get here? And when?

"Peeta?" I ask again, digging my nails further into my skin. I can feel the blood sliding down my arms, but the pain feels good. It's like I am releasing all of the bad emotions from my body.

"Katniss don't go, don't leave just yet," the voice calls to me. _Leave Katniss, nobody here loves you anyways. You will be better on your own_. Snow's voice is the last thing I hear before I become unconscious.

**Thank you everyone, again, for all of the amazing reviews. Please tell me what you thought, and if you want any other POVS or which ones you like the best. What will happen to Katniss when she wakes up? Review please, and tell me what you think. (Just saying I don't like how Cato's POV turned out, so I am sorry if it is horrible.)**

**VENIA: What do you write? Thank you so much, and I am sure that you are a great writer too.**


	21. Home Sweet Home

**Katniss POV**

Screech. I open my eyes lazily and the light blinds me, so I quickly shut them again. I feel like I am soaring through the air, but am slowly coming to a stop. Screech. I open my eyes a second time, squinting to let them adjust to the brightness. I open them all the way just as the soaring feeling stops. I am lying down on a bed in a room that looks like the one on the train to the Capitol. A door opens and the redheaded avox that served me before the Games enters. She walks over to me and hands me a letter before exiting through the same door she came through. I sit up and lean against the headboard before opening the envelope. I unfold the letter with trembling hands, and I immediately recognize the shaky, slanting handwriting as Haymitch's. The letter says:

I know that you are probably mad at me, but right now, as you have noticed, you are on a train. It is not to the Capitol, but to District Two. Your mother, Gale, and I all agree that it is best for you not to be at home in District Twelve for it has been worsening your depression. I know that you will be angry at us, but it is for the better. You will be staying with Cato Stone and his family in the Victor's Village. They will meet you at the train station when you arrive. While you were passed out, your mother and Prim packed your belongings and you will find them on the train with you. I also fastened the necklace Peeta gave you around your neck so that you will have it with you while you are in District Two. Again, I am sorry, but I think that you will be able to relax there.

- Haymitch Abernathy

I slam the letter down on the bed and swiftly throw off the covers and stand up. I am still in the same clothes I was wearing when I passed out, so I immediately leave the room. I look down the hallway and head towards the direction that looks like where the dining hall is. I am right because the hallway widens into a room containing one long mahogany table and chairs surrounding it. Sitting in one of the chairs is none other than Effie Trinket. She must sense my presence because she turns around with a dazzling smile on her makeup plastered face. "Hello sweetie," she says cheerfully. I glare at her before I notice her hair. It is a strange gold color that has been made to look metallically, and must be at least a foot high. I look back down at her face and carefully examine her makeup. I frown at her eyelashes that have minuscule gold mockingjays on the tips of them. Her lipstick is also gold with sparkles coating her upper and bottom lips. Effie's smile falters just a little bit before she rebounds and smiles as wide as she can. "What do you think? The new styles in the Capitol are based off of your mockingjay pin. I heard that even Plutarch Heavensbee, the new head Gamemaker, has a gold watch with a mockingjay on it, but those are only rumors." I nod and almost smile a tiny bit at Effie's rambling, which she has a talent for. "If you want you can eat breakfast, but we have arrived in District Two so you can always wait until you get to the Stone's house." I nod, but when I look at the food all I want to do is throw up. I don't know why but since my confinement I haven't felt like eating anything. I push away my plate and look up at Effie shaking my head vigorously. "You don't want to eat? Okay then, I will have someone gather your luggage and be sure they bring it to the Stone's house. You can go right through that door, and if you remember, leave the train through the door third to the right. I follow her directions, and sure enough when I exit the third door on the right, hot, humid air hits me. I step out onto the train station's platform and look around. District Two is breathtakingly beautiful. Unlike District Twelve, every single object isn't covered in mountains of coal dust. Instead everything is perfect and pristine. As I take a few steps forward, my shoes click on the cobblestone-covered pathway that leads to a dirt path, which seems to go into town or something. I don't really remember what Cato's parents look like, so as I look both ways down the crowded cobblestone path, I feel lost and start to panic.

My breathing becomes normal as a strict looking woman with her hair up in a tight bun comes up to me. "Katniss Everdeen?" she asks cautiously, pursing her lips. I nod and I can hear her sigh. She extends her hand for me to shake as she says, "Hello, I am Cato's mother, Janet, but you can call me Mrs. Stone." I shake her hand and quickly bring mine back down to my side. "Cato is training right now and Mr. Stone is working, so I am the only one able to pick you up." I thought Cato had a brother, Cormack I think his name is. She starts walking down the dirt pathway, so I follow her. "Our family has a daily routine here in District Two, so you better become used to it. Mr. Stone works, I stay home and clean around the house, Cato trains to stay in shape, and Cormack, Cato's brother, usually goes with him too. I don't know where he is today though..." her voice trails off and she looks at the ground, but she continues, "If you want, Cato can give you a tour later. Of course it will only be of the main town and a few sights around it. How big is District Twelve?"

I bring my gaze up from the pathway and look at Mrs. Stone. "It's small," I say quietly, talking for the first time today. She nods and we continue walking in silence for a few minutes. When we reach four different paths off of the one we are on now, Mrs. Stone turns onto the one furthest on the right. I try to remember this if I ever need to make an escape. We turn another right after that one before making a left.

"This leads directly to the Victor's Village," she says as the path opens up to a gigantic circle with roads leading off of it to other houses and who knows what else. "Our house is the one four houses down from this path, and if you don't remember it that way, remember that our house is number twenty-two." I nod in astonishment. This Victor's Village actually has all of the houses filled, unlike District Twelve's where only two are. We enter the house labeled twenty-two and I am immediately reminded of home. It is an exact copy of the house that I live in in the Victor's Village in District Twelve. "Well here we are, home sweet home," Mrs. Stone says with a smile on her face. "Feel free to make yourself comfortable." She walks into the kitchen, but instead of following her I walk up stairs_. Does this feel like home to you Katniss?_ I shake my head and Snow continues talking. _I hope you know that you can't get rid of me. I will always be in your head talking to you_. A chill runs down my spine and I get goosebumps, but I shake it off. I go into the door that is where my room is back in District Twelve, but I think that it is Cato's room. Across from the door there is a single window that is open that faces a concrete building. Just like my room there is a bed, desk, and closet, but unlike mine the closet is empty and the desk is covered in paper and pens. Two suitcases lay on the floor of the closet, open and messily stuffed with clothes. Why doesn't he just use the closet? I walk away from the closet and towards the desk. I can't even see the surface of it because there are piles of paper covered in writing concealing it. I furrow my brow in concentration while I try to make out what they say. One catches my attention when I see my name written in big handwriting across the top of it. Underneath my name there are bullet points. It looks like an unfinished list because only a few of the bullet points have writing next to them. The first one says: attempted suicide. The next one says: Put on Candrat, why? The third one reads: tortured in confinement, because of me talking to her about Candrat? The fourth one says: Returns home, but hears Snow's voice in her head, I don't. There aren't any more after that.

I look up, sensing someone else in the room. I quickly turn around, still holding onto the note with my right hand. "What are you doing here?" Cato growls menacingly. My eyes widen, but I don't say anything back. "Why are you in my house, let alone my room?"

I start to tremble, and when I answer Cato my voice quivers, "I woke up and I was on a train coming here. I didn't know about any of this, but Haymitch wrote me a letter telling me why and where I was going. Your mother met me at the station and brought me back to your house and told me that I was going to be staying here."

"In my room?" Cato asks raising an eyebrow. I blush and shake my head. "What's that you've got in your hand?" Cato asks remaining hostile.

"Haymitch's letter," I lie.

Cato squints his eyes at me in disbelief and extends his hand for me to give him the letter. I am so intimidated by him,that I hand the not over to him. He furrows his eyebrows and looks up at me. "Get out," he says pointing to the door next to him. I walk with my head down, not even daring to look at him. After I exit the room, he slams the door shut and I can hear it lock too. I walk down the hall to the room where Prim sleeps at home, but it is locked. It must be Cormack's. I walk to the door next to his and open it. Inside, there is a bed, desk, and closet. On the bed is my single suitcase containing all of my belongings including my father's hunting jacket and my hunting boots. I hear a door open and feet running down the stairs. "What the hell mom? Why is she here? You could have at least told me and maybe I wouldn't be so angry," I recognize the yelling voice as Cato's.

"I'm sorry, but you were to busy at the training center to care. She is here because Haymitch Abernathy said that being away from her home would help her relax, and I agree with him," Mrs. Stone yells equally as loud back. I try to block out their fight as I begin to put away my clothes in the closet.

There is a knock on the door and I go and open it. Standing in front of me is a boy I recognize as Cormack. He gives me tiny smile before saying, "don't worry, you will get used to it. Cato and my mother's fights don't even compare to the fights Cato has with my father." I smile a little bit back before letting him enter my new room. "Do you need help unpacking?" he asks politely, eyeing my open suitcase. I nod, wondering how Cato could even be related to this boy. After Cormack leaves I collapse onto the bed and close my eyes. The bickering had stopped and the house seems so quiet now. I drift off to sleep listening to the chirping of the birds.

**I am sorry that I haven't posted in so long, but my boyfriend was admitted into the hospital. I will try to post as soon as I can. I like writing Katniss and Cato together and I have plans for what they will do. I hope you enjoyed and please review.**

**Venia: What is your username, so when you write stories I can read them?**


	22. When You're Ready

Knock, knock, knock. I let out a moan as I turn over in the unfamiliar bed. I open my eyes in alarm as I remember where I am. "Katniss?" a soft, soothing voice says. It sounds familiar, but I can't quite remember who's voice it is. There is another knock, and I finally get up and walk over to the door. I put my hand on the doorknob and slowly open the door a crack, just enough so I can see through. A tall boy, taller than Cato, stands in front of me. "I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?" I nod at the boy, trying to remember his name. "Well, I was just wondering..." he pauses looking down at the floor. "I was wondering if I could give you a tour of District Two," he says quickly, so fast that I can barely understand him. "I know Cato is supposed to show you around, but he is too busy training..." the boy trails off again, focusing on a speck on the wood floor. He looks up and I nod at him, looking into his eyes. They are blue like Cato's, but unlike Cato's they are warm, and comforting not cold, and steely. He looks away, embarrassed, and says, "When you're ready, come down stairs and we can start on the tour." I nod again, a smile tugging at my lips. The boy turns away as I close the door.

"Cormack," I say to myself smiling. His name is Cormack, I remember now. I undress and shower quickly, changing into different clothes. I slip on brown pants, not owning shorts, and a black t-shirt. I lace up my hunting boots, not having other shoes with me. I decide to leave my hair down to let it dry from the shower. I walk down stairs and into the kitchen. The only person there is Cormack, who is reading something that is on the kitchen table. He senses my presence and looks up. He smiles, his lopsided grin makes the corners of my mouth twitch up before I remember that I'm unhappy. He walks up to me and says, "Ready?" I nod, and as he takes my hand to guide me, I let in an intake of breath, startled by the touch. His hand has blisters on it, that can only be from the handle of an axe. That must be what his specialty weapon is, Cato's is a sword, Cormack's is an axe, and mine is a bow and arrow. I let out the breath, and I start breathing normally. Cormack slips in between me and the doorway as he leads me out of the kitchen and into the hallway. As he goes by I breath in and I smile. Cormack smells like cinnamon and the dusty sand of District Two. We walk outside and he says, "Cato is at the training center, my mother is running errands, and my father is at work, so we don't have to worry about anyone wondering where we are." I nod as we take a right turn from his house and walk towards a dirt path. "This one leads to the main road in the town near us," Cormack says, pointing with his free hand to the pathway.

I look at him confused, "The town near you? There is more than one town?" I realize that that is the first time I've talked to him since I've gotten here.

"Yeah. There are a bunch of different towns. The Victor's Village is, of course, near the main town. Some people even call it The City because it is so much bigger than the other towns." I nod, and gasp as we enter The City. District Two actually has cars! They zoom by us, heading in two different directions on the road. Cormack laughs at my reaction, and I can't help, but smile at his laugh. It is loud and bubbly and he snorts every once in a while. "So this is it," he says after regaining his composure, "this is The City. Where would you like to go first?" I point to the right and he leads us down the sidewalk. "The training center is just up here. We can go there first...if you want," he adds, glancing at me out of the corner of his eyes. I know that he wants to make sure I don't freeze up again, he actually cares about me unlike other people.

"Sure," I say with a shrug. Cormack leads us pass the grocery store and around a corner before stopping in front of a door that doesn't look like a training center. He drops my hand as he pushes the metal door open, and holds it for me.

"Ah, if it isn't young Cormack," a man behind a counter says smiling. "You're brother is here. He actually agreed to teaching a class in swords. I thought he would laugh in my face and walk away, but no. He surprised me."

"Well Ted I'm here with Katniss," Cormack says stepping besides me. I glare at the man, unsure to trust him or not.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Katniss Everdeen." I continue glaring at him and the man, Ted, chuckles. "I heard she was staying at your house. Cato was mumbling about personal space and having no privacy with her here, but I had no idea what he was talking about. But now I do," Ted says raising his eyebrows at me.

"I am showing her around town and decided to bring her here first."

"Good choice. We have some of the best quality weapons around. Katniss can show off her bow and arrow skills," the middle-aged man crooks his thumb at a door to the left of his counter. "Well the gym is right through there, so feel free to use whatever you like. You can show her your talent with axes," he says winking at Cormack, who blushes in return. We enter the gym, and my eyes widen at the sight. There are different stations set up for different weapons. In the far right corner there are bow and arrows and to the left of the door there are swords. A group of kids, no older than Prim, surround Cato. He is showing them the different techniques on how to hold a sword. He looks up at us to see who has come through the door, and his eyes muddle with confusion before turning back to concentration. I forget that Cormack is standing next to me, and head towards the bow and arrows. I gingerly lift up a bow that is a good size for me, and sling a sheath of arrows over my right shoulder. I fit the bowstring into the notch on the arrow and aim at the target. I let out a deep breath, close my eyes, relax, set my shoulders back, pull back on the bow, stand sideways, and set my feet shoulder length apart. Then I release the arrow. It whips through the air and lands in the dead center of the target. I take a few steps over to the next target and load another arrow. I go through the steps before I release yet again. Just like before, the arrow ends up in the center of the target. I repeat this for ten more targets, faster each time. By the time I am all out of arrows, I remember where I am. I'm not in the forests hunting for food, I am not in the arena, I am in District Two, in the training center. I look over at the sword station and see all of the kids watching me, including Cato. I blush as I set down the bow. I turn around to find Cormack standing behind me.

"Can we go back to your house now?" I ask, overwhelmed by the feeling of shooting an arrow again. He nods and we head towards the exit of the gym. Just as we are about to leave, I glance one last time at the sword station. Cato is still staring at me, almost in disbelief. I smile slightly before walking out the door.

**More Katniss/Cormack next chapter. And thank you for all of the great reviews and support. Should I do a Cormack POV or no? Please review, I write faster! Thank you :)**


	23. Fears

**Cato's POV**

"Katniss! Get your butt down here!" I yell from the bottom of the stairs. She has locked herself in her room since she got back from the training center and hasn't come out. I mean really, I think that she is over reacting just a little too much. It's been almost two hours since she's come home!

"Cato," my mother says from the kitchen. "You could at least be a little bit nicer than that. I mean she is our guest. Even if she is acting like a brat," my mother mumbles the last part to herself.

I smile to myself before walking up the stairs slowly. I walk over to Katniss' shut door and cautiously knock four times. "What!" Katniss says, her voice muffled by something.

"It's time for dinner. We have been waiting for you." The door opens a crack and Katniss slips out, shutting the door behind her. She glares at me before stomping down the stairs. I follow her into the kitchen and sit in the chair across from her at the table.

Katniss stares blankly at the basket of bread and then at the hot chocolate. "Haymitch told me that your favorite meal was lamb stew," my mother says as Katniss looks at the big bowl in the middle of the table. "He also said that you really like hot chocolate and bread." Katniss nods slightly while gingerly touching her necklace before she reaches for the bowl of lamb stew. How could I not have noticed her necklace before? I squint at it and make out the letter 'P' engraved onto a heart. Lover boy must have given it to her before the Games.

"Cato?" Cormack asks cautiously. I break out of my trance and realize that I was gripping my fork really hard and staring at Katniss' necklace. Luckily only Cormack noticed. I give him my best death stare before focusing on my lamb stew which only reminds me of the Capitol. My spoon slips out of my hand as I start to tremble. This happens to me every time I think about the Capitol now. They have planted this fear inside of me that will never go away. I look up to see my father and mother giving me strange looks and Katniss staring blankly at the hot chocolate that she has been dipping her bread into. Suddenly the lights flicker in the hallway and rain starts to pour down. I continue to shake, but this time more violently than before. The dark kitchen lights up as lightning hits somewhere outside and thunder booms, shaking the whole house. I stand up quickly, trembling all over, staring out through the window to the left of me. Katniss stands up at the same time staring at me, as if to make sure I am okay. Out of the corner of my eye I can see my father looking from me to Katniss.

"I don't feel very good," I say, my voice quivering with fear. I start walking around the table to get to the hall, but get distracted by the rain outside the window. I stop in front of it and watch as the dark night sky lights up with lightning and drops of water race down the window.

"Shut up!" I hear Katniss scream. I turn around with wide eyes, gulping down a lump that had formed in my throat. Her hands are covering her ears and she has a frantic look in her eyes. "Stop, make him stop!" she yells, looking at me for the help she is seeking. I know what she is talking about, but unfortunately I can't help her. "Please..." Katniss looks at me, tears filling her eyes. I look at my family, having forgotten that they were there, and find them looking between the two of us with confused expressions on their faces. Lightning strikes again and I jump in surprise. This only makes Katniss look worse. She turns pale and she closes her eyes, pushing her hands harder against her ears, trying so hard to block out Snow's voice. "No he hasn't!" she yells, her voice even more raspy than it has been since our torture in the Capitol. I close my eyes, attempting not to think about my confinement and how it has permanently made me afraid of water, other than to drink it, and lightning. Opening my eyes, I take a step towards Katniss. This makes her eyes widen even more and makes her push her hands even more against her ears. "Cato!" she pleads, expecting me to be able to do something about Snow.

"Ask him to stop...nicely," I say sheepishly.

"Please stop, please stop, please stop," Katniss chants over and over again, looking up at the ceiling. I walk carefully over to her and put my hands on both of her shoulders. She still looks up at the ceiling until her chanting stops and she looks me in the eyes. I can feel her get the shivers below my hands and I can only wonder if it is because of me.

"Better?" I ask her. She nods and I remove my hands from her shoulders and walk around her into the hallway. I walk up the stairs and into my room, closing my door behind me. I change into a t-shirt and sweatpants and climb into my bed. Even though it is early, working at the training center and this evening has worn me out. I lie down on my side facing the door. I close my eyes and listen to the rhythmic pitter patter of the rain outside with the occasional strike lightning and boom thunder. I dose in and out of sleep for hours before I hear a noise. It sounds like the opening and closing of a door. My mattress sinks down next to me as someone climbs into my bed. Their hair brushes by my face as they fit their body to be in the same position as me. I bring my left arm up and around the person and with my other hand I play with their hair with my fingers. After their breathing becomes slow and steady I begin to drift off asleep and for the first time in a very long time, I have no nightmares at all.

The sun light breaking through my one window wakes me up the next morning. I smile as I remember the person that I thought came into my room last night, Katniss Everdeen, but she would never actually do that. I open my eyes and am shocked when all is see is long, wavy, brown hair flowing down Katniss' back. Maybe I wasn't dreaming when she came in last night. I can hear her soft and steady breathing meaning that she is asleep. I go to move my left arm off of her, but stop when I realize that she is holding onto my hand with both of hers. She groans, and I hold my breath, afraid that I woke her up. But instead Katniss moves to her left side, facing me. She puts her right arm around me and snuggles her face into my chest. I smile faintly before draping my left arm around her and playing with her hair behind her back. She smiles in her sleep, and that is the last thing I see before I fall back asleep.

**Yay! Another chapter! Thank you for all of the great reviews. And soon it will be the announcement for the Quarter Quell. How will Katniss react to waking up in Cato's bed? Sorry that this chapter is kind of short, and it is just a filler chapter, but I really wanted to put this bit in (I actually just thought of it).**


	24. Siblings

**Katniss POV**

I slowly open my eyes, waking up to the sunlight and chirping birds that make up the mornings in District Two. The room feels unfamiliar, more than usual and I quickly sit up. The desk is cluttered with papers and a suitcase that is not mine is open on the ground. I hop out of bed, realizing who's room this actually is. I run out of the room and downstairs into the kitchen. Sitting at the table is Mr. Stone reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee. Across from him is Cato and next to him, Cormack. I walk over furiously to Cato. He looks up at me not even acknowledging the fact that he woke up with me in his bed this morning. I pull my arm back and swiftly slap Cato in the face.

"What the hell?!" Cato says standing up. A vein in his forehead sticking out, the one that sticks out whenever the is angry._ Don't worry Katniss, he deserves it_. I narrow my eyes and point my index finger at him.

"You know what I'm talking about Cato!" I say ready to punch him in the face.

"Hey you guys! Come here quick!" Mrs. Stone calls from the sitting room. "They're announcing the instructions for the seventy-fifth Quarter Quell!" We all run into the sitting room and sure enough there on the television screen is a small boy holding a box standing next to President Snow on a stage. I sit down on the couch as President Snow reaches into the box and grabs a letter with "75" on top of it.

He Breaks the seal and reads aloud, "To remind the citizens that many families in the rebellion got split apart, for the seventy-fifth Hunger Games a previous victor and one of their siblings will be chosen to participate. If the victor does not have a sibling, then the other tribute will be chosen at random. Thank you." The television screen turns static and all I can do is stare at it.

"Prim," I whisper. "Prim," I say louder. "PRIM!" I yell. My eyes widen and I look frantically around the room. "Prim, Prim," I keep repeating. The phone rings and I quickly jump up to answer it. "Hello?" I say frantically.

"Katniss?" A quiet voice responds. It sounds so small, so fragile.

"Prim," I sigh. "It's okay, everything will be alright. Just trust me." _No it won't, and you know it_. "Prim please, forget everything that has happened since the Games and just remember I have already survived this, now it is your turn."

"Katniss," she says, "I'm just scared."

"Don't be Prim you will have me, we will be okay."

"I'm not worried about me," she whispers, "I'm worried about you." I sigh and realize she is right. I am not stable enough to return to the games.

When I respond my voice is shaky, "Prim, I am fine. I can take care of myself. All you need to worry about is you and you alone. Okay? Can you do that for me?"

"Yes," she responds while sniffling, I can tell she is crying. "I love you," she says.

"I love you too," I respond before hanging up the phone. I return back into the sitting room and find the Stone's sitting just as they were when I left them. I swallow back my tears and clear my throat before I speak, directing myself at Cormack and Cato, "well I don't know about you two, but I am going to the training center and think that you two should join me. Somebody is going to be getting out of this hell alive and I would prefer it to be one of us." I look around waiting for one of them to respond.

"She's right, Cormack says standing up. "One of us will win and if that is going to happen we will have to train to succeed." I nod at him and look expectantly at Cato to stand up also, but he just sits there staring at the television.

**Cato's POV**

I'm pissed. President Snow can not be serious. How am I supposed to go back into the Hunger Games? How is Katniss supposed to go back in? The girl is broken, shattered she will not be getting out of the Game alive. Which is why I will need to do everything I can to make sure that she does get out of it alive. Of course she will want Prim to get out, but the little thing won't even live past the bloodbath. There will be trained fighters, victors that are itching to get back in the arena. I stand up and find Katniss and Cormack staring expectantly at me.

"Are you coming?" Katniss asks determinedly.

"Sure," I say looking at the sneakers in Cormack's hand and I can only guess where we are going. The training center. Katniss for Prim, Cormack for Katniss, and me for Katniss. The three of us training to help others survive. Who would have guessed.

**HI EVERYBODY! Ok so I seriously feel horrible that I haven't updated in so long but all of the reviews, PMs, and followers have inspired me. I know that this chapter sucks and is really short, but I have wanted to do this scene for a while now. The next chapters will be the Capitol and then the games. PLEASE REVIEW! YOU GUYS ARE MY INSPIRATION! Oh and if anybody would like me to PM them previews for the next chapter tell me! Ok that's all I love you guys and again thank you.**


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